The customer manufactures thousands of models, made from various materials, from metal to acetate. Product finishing is carried out by shot-peening to create the required aesthetic effect.
The customer was using over 20 shot-peening machines controlled by an operator, on every system. In this way output levels were not consistent and the result was excessively dependent on the human factor.
The aim was to design a special system where operator should only load and unload workpieces, and processing would be automatically managed according to workpiece geometry and material, within a controlled time period, and according to a repetitive process in order to ensure the qualitative standards as requested by the customer. Eyeglasses are extremely light components involving complex handling since they require secure grip at a point having a small area. This is the reason why systems historically relied on operator intervention.
Our Test Centre worked together with the customer to design and manufacture an automatic machine that could work on a thousand different geometries, and perform a repeatable, top-quality and even finishing, at a pace of one product in less than 20 seconds.
In particular, we designed a clamping system which does not mask any area of the surface to be processed and is secure enough to avoid any vibration or movement during the process.
Norblast special machine can process the whole product range – rims and arms – with all sizes and materials, being characterised by a significant program flexibility according to the model.
The customer was trained and told how to adjust the program to a million pieces having different geometries even in the future.
Systems are equipped with a blasting material recycling system and can significantly eliminate the dust resulting from the previous processes thereby reducing consumption of the material used.
Thanks to Norblast special machine, the customer considerably increased output levels and their consistency, thereby reducing any required intervention of the operator. The advantage is on three aspects: time, quality and repeatability of the process.
A single system allows finishing components featuring different dimensions, geometries and materials. The customer can easily program the machine, so it can be flexible enough to deal with any future new models.
For every system, the customer could use three operators for other tasks and increase productivity. Furthermore, dust has decreased and the work environment is hence healthier.
