Glebar’s Applications Division conducts research and development of innovative cutoff and grinding technology. Their most recent focus was to innovate the existing design of our PG-9 series of Centerless Plunge Grinding Machines. The goal was to help customers reduce setup times, increase throughput, and maintain tighter tolerances.

Current Process: Lathes and Hydraulic Form Grinders

In order to shape spherical and cylindrical parts, manufacturers rely on lathes and hydraulically powered form grinders.

Challenges: Complicated Setup, Inconsistent and Slow Process, Manual Operation, and Open Work Environment

Lathes form parts from bar stock one at a time limiting throughput. The setup for a lathe is complicated and labor-intensive requiring a skilled technician. The cutting process relies on a skilled operator working the different gears and levers to bring the cutting tool closer or further from the part affecting the tolerance. With several manually controlled parts, the setup and cutting processes are difficult to replicate, creating inconsistent surface finishes. The open, high-speed cutting environment and manual operation increase the potential of operator injury.

While hydraulically powered form grinders can produce multiple parts per cycle, they too rely on skilled technicians for setup. Several microswitches must be configured to set the grinding sequence. As the hydraulic system warms up, the speed of the regulating wheel fluctuates, making it difficult to control the tolerances. The grinding cell of most hydraulic form grinders is exposed, raising the risk of potential operator injury.

Challenge

Manufacturers use lapping machines which are unable to hold consistent tolerances or capacity, creating inconsistent surface finishes and longer cycle times.

Provide a form grinding solution for 1" and 1.4" deodorant balls while meeting the customer's cycle time and surface finish requirements.

Current process:

Legacy equipment did not meet current CE standards. The brittle shafts break in the grinder's feeder increasing scrap rates.

Challenges:

Deliver an automated, turnkey process that can integrate with the customer's existing isostatic press to accuractely handle and grind the parts. The process had to ensure the ceramic shafts would not chip or break due to the brittle consistency of pre-sintered ceramics.

A top tier technical glass OEM required a precision grinding solution for quartz glass rod components which will be transformed into fiber optic cable cores. They needed to improve their existing process to increase output while maintaining a small footprint in their factory. Precision is paramount as the glass will ultimately need to transmit light over long distances without any boosting and without losing any of the information that has been encoded onto that light.

Challenge: A food equipment manufacturer approached Glebar to improve productivity and reduce costs for their food filler machines. The metal spout requires grinding for several reasons. They come in contact with food, therefore requiring a smooth finish for sanitary purposes. The tubes are often exchanged on the machines to dispense various size pastries. Also, the mating housing for the spouts must be a close fit to prevent leaking and to keep appropriate content pressure to dispense the precise amounts.  Eight different components needed to be ground, all approximately four-inches in length, however they varied in diameters and weight. The variation of part geometries posed the biggest feeding challenge. Rapid changeover of grinding wheels was important to reduce setup time between the components. 

Challenge: To mass produce golf ball cores at a low cost, while holding tight tolerances with maximum throughput.

Challenge: To end grind printed circuit board carbide drill blanks used by a major tool manufacturer to qualify the blank before fluting. The existing method relied on a batch process where parts were placed, a stack at a time, into a fixture and surface ground. Control over the length was highly dependent upon the setup of each batch in the machine, and length adjustment and perpendicularity were cumbersome to adjust for small diameter parts. Existing machines on the market were extremely large in comparison to the small diameter of the part to be processed, and were very expensive.

Challenge: To grind felt tips for pens. Customer required a high volume turnkey solution.