Danfoss
The dialogue with Danfoss, which produces mechanical and electrical components for, among other things, cooling and heating automation, started at a trade show back in 2017. They were at that time looking to replace a 28-year-old cleaning system with washing, rinsing and drying zone which was spraying the parts.
The reason was that the equipment was obsolete and could not live up to the cleanliness requirements Danfoss should adhere to today and at the same time the process required further automation to avoid manual handling.
The task itself concerned the production of their heat pump housings made of steel for villas, which had to be washed thoroughly both inside and outside the part continuously around the clock. Therefore, Danfoss was in dialogue with a few suppliers who were to present a concept whereby the best solution based on cleanliness, quality, sustainability, competences, reliability and economy would be chosen.
In addition, the requirement was that the supplier should come up with the whole concept which included not only a new cleaning system but also the actual automation between machining before washing and subsequent packing of the parts into plastic boxes before assembling.
This was the starting point for the project where we were chosen as the supplier not because of the price, but the whole concept and idea behind it. This solution was delivered before Christmas in 2018.
This resulted in a fully automatic cleaning system with two robots in close cooperation with a few Danish partners. This solution can be seen in the video above, where you follow the parts from start to finish after machining where they are contaminated with oil and chips.
The solution itself consisted of several systems which included a 5-stage washer with specially designed spray cleaning zones and ultrasonic cleaning in order to meet the strict cleanliness requirements both inside and outside the very complex part which consists of many holes.
The result is a greatly improved cleanliness of the pump housings which has reduced the drop-off in subsequent assembly and test processes significantly and fully according to the customer’s expectations.
In addition, it was supplied with a Masterclean central filter system with band filter, oil separator and buffer tank for continuous filtration of the liquid. This was necessary to handle the large amount of pollution associated with cleaning steel components of this magnitude and volume.
Because the parts are very complex, they were positioned throughout the machine with a specially designed belt fixture in which the parts are positioned by the robot to achieve the best cleaning result. When the parts have been spraywashed, ultrasonic cleaned and rinsed several times and dried, they move out of the cleaning system, after which the robot places the parts inside transport boxes before moving out of the robot cell.
The cleaning system was supplied with automatic chemical dosing, water filling, filter housings plus process and energy monitoring so that the customer can keep up with not only the cleaning process itself but also the consumption of water, electricity, chemicals and compressed air.
- One supplier to lift the task
- No manual handling
- Continuous filtration of the process fluid
- Matches even the strictest cleanliness requirements
- We are with you all the way