Inductoheat, Inc.—a leading induction heating equipment manufacturer—delivers an induction hardening and tempering system to a leading supplier of driveline components. This machine was designed specifically for hardening and tempering hub spindles and ball races. The equipment is comprised of a STATISCAN® IV unit for induction hardening and a STATISCAN II unit for induction tempering. The part goes through an eight-station cycle using the following material handling features; four pneumatic linear transfer 180º grippers, two pneumatic accept/reject arms, and a continuous-feed conveyor.
Each of the stations adhere to the following responsibilities: at station 1 parts are automatically loaded; at station 2, pneumatic part locator and check: station 3, induction hardening O.D. of hub shaft; station 4, I.D. auxiliary quench cooling; station 5, pneumatic exist and acceptable parts are transferred onto the tempering system conveyor; station 6, parts travel through a channel coil for tempering; station 7, conveyor quench cooling; and at station 8, automatic part unload for accepted parts or exit conveyor for rejected parts.
There are two induction power supplies for this compact system. The hardening inverter is a UNIPOWER® UP12 power supply which provides 200 kW @ 10 kHz and a STATIPOWER® SP16 power supply offering 50 kW @ 10 kHz for the tempering portion. Allen-Bradley® PLC controls with touch-screen HMI interface and process monitoring offers superior process control and monitoring capabilities, assuring the highest quality and repeatability. For system cooling and part quenching, an integrated closed-loop water recirculation system is included. Other features include auto reject following both harden and temper cycles; process monitoring with data archiving, hardening module offers an auto lubrication system, and pyrometer on tempering system for process monitoring. Learn more by visiting [www.inductoheat.com].
