January 30, 2013
Guyson Corp. has designed and built a 7-axis robotic grit-blast machine configured for precision roughening of component surfaces in a production thermal spray coating cell.
The model RB-RSSA-8 has a 54- by 46-in. blast process chamber that is 42 in. tall. A single pressure-blast nozzle is fed by a 3.5-cu.-ft. capacity, ASME-certified pressure vessel. Blast nozzle motion is provided by a FANUC M-10iA robot and is coordinated with component rotation on a servomotor-driven auxiliary axis controlled by the FANUC R-30iA robot controller. The robot's hollow wrist allows routing of the pressure-blast hose through the articulated robotic arm.<.p>
The grit-blast machine's spindle, fitted with a jawed chuck or a T-slotted turntable, can be controlled to turn clockwise and counterclockwise to orient the component throughout the blast cycle, or it can rotate up to 300 RPM.
During the programmed blast cycle, the robotic grit-blasting system consistently maintains the correct nozzle angle, standoff distance, and surface speed to produce uniform surface roughness on target areas of the component, without under- or overblasting and with no wasted motion, the manufacturer states.