Recognized for improving process efficiency, reducing scrap rates, and creating safer work environments, Glebar has delivered innovative grinding solutions to guidewire manufacturers for over 50 years. Our newest automated solution process guidewires from the feeder to a finished part in a single operation.

Current Process & Challenges

Legacy grinding machines require experienced operators to load, grind, and unload wires manually. Skilled mechanics manually move sensors in the grinder to change the wire profile or length. This process:

• is highly manual resulting in slow cycle times and long changeovers, increasing downtime, and limiting throughput.
• is inconsistent, relying on highly skilled operators to grind complex wire geometries.
• relies on experienced mechanics who are aging and quickly retiring.
• uses open platforms exposing operators to the grinding zone creating an unsafe work environment.
• is difficult to replicate, increasing scrap rates.

Current Process

Biopsy needle notches are machined using milling, conventional abrasive grinding, or wire EDM.

Challenges

Exposing the material to high heat can affect the chemistry and mechanical properties of the material requiring manual secondary finishing operations. Setup and production are slow, requiring extensive mechanical adjustments. Frequent wheel dressing causes faster wearing, resulting in higher tooling costs.

Current Process
Conventional cutting processes use an abrasive chop saw, band saw, lathe cutoff, or shear cutting machine. Each method has its disadvantages. Tooling wears quickly and is expensive, driving up costs.

Challenges
The material used to manufacture aerospace fasteners is difficult to cut using conventional equipment. Cutting oil is expensive, messy, and creates a hazardous work area. Band saws leave a rough surface finish and inaccurate length tolerance, requiring secondary processing. Cutting bars individually on a lathe is a slow process limiting output per shift. The thickness of the lathe cutoff tools wastes expensive material, generating a high cost per cut. Carbide tooling wears quickly leaving a large burr. The burr gets worse as the tool wears. Shear cutting is very loud and leaves a deformed end. Conventional saws are noisy and have minimal safety features.

Current Process

Kirschner wires, also commonly known as K-wires, are ground using a manual OD grinder.

Challenges

Low production output, as only one wire can be ground at a time. Changeover between wire diameters is time-consuming, delaying production. Grinding can leave burrs requiring secondary processes to deburr, lengthening production time.

Current Process

A high-powered laser beam cuts the tubing by melting it leaving a rough edge and slag. Tubes and other parts are typically cut one at a time limiting production rates.

Challenges

Heat sensitive applications may limit the use of the laser for cutting. Laser cutting leaves recast and heat-affected zones, affecting the tube's quality and increasing scrap rates. Beam deflection when cutting through a tube can affect accuracy and cause damage. Laser cutting is not capable of creating clean and sharp edges. Therefore, time-consuming secondary processes to deburr tubes and remove any debris are required. Delivering a process that cuts tubes to length, maintains a high level of quality and accuracy, leaves no recast or slag, and improves production times.

Castle Nuts, also referred to as Castellated Nuts, are used for applications in aerospace and automotive markets where the nut cannot loosen. A cotter pin or safety wire is inserted through a cross-drilled bolt extending through the opposing slots to mechanically prevent the nut from loosening. Without the Castle Nut, the nut would separate from its shaft potentially leading to catastrophic results.

Current Process

Slotting Saws, Abrasive Grinders, Wire EDM, and Sinker EDM are popular mechanical and abrasive processes used for slotting Castle Nuts. The slotting operation requires three cuts per part, cutting two slots per pass. Parts are loaded manually.

Challenge

Typical saws and grinding processes require frequent wheel dressing or saw changing, dramatically reducing productivity and throughput. Current manufacturing processes can distort the slot, damage the thread, or deform the thread. Secondary deburring or re-tapping is often required after slotting. This results in increased scrap rates, increased cycle times, and reduced throughput.

Current Process:

Narrow work wheels prevent generating tapers over 4" requiring multiple setups to generate the shape. Highly skilled technicians are required to ensure proper setup. Upper and lower slides are strapped, preventing the regulating wheel and work rest blade from being adjusted independently. Wheel dressing is applied manually, which leads to inconsistent wheel conditions. Blade sizing is conducted manually leading to variability in setup longevity.

Challenges:

Deliver a process that can grind up to 8" tapers on guidewires in one pass while maintaining quality and repeatability. Decrease downtime related to setup and complicated changeovers. The process must meet CE Certification standards for operator safety.

Current Process

Zirconium tubes are cut one at a time using carbide tools on a lathe. A lathe cutoff leaves burrs requiring deburring to achieve a smooth surface finish. Carbide tooling wears quickly when cutting zirconium and is expensive.

Challenges

Deliver a cost-effective process to cut zirconium tubes which reduces the number of steps in production. Zirconium is highly flammable, and a dull carbide tool can cause the material to overheat and catch fire. Zirconium fires are dangerous and very hard to extinguish.

Current Process

CS1 machines can store up to 100 setups, and PLC controlled SG machines can store up to 30 setups. This limits how many programs can be stored and archived on each machine. Programming and training must be done on the operator screen at the machine reducing availability for production.

Challenges

Develop an effective way to archive and re-use setups across multiple machines. Manually entering programs is time-consuming. Users can make editing errors or unauthorized changes at the machine resulting in higher scrap rates or a possible machine crash. Training in large groups can be limited in today's environment given social distancing and PPE requirements.

Challenge

Cycle time reduction while maintaining overall machine uptime resulting in increased throughput. Added versatility to the control system allowing process improvement through actionable reporting. Reducing maintenance such as wheel dressing to increase up time. NiTi is a difficult material to shape due to its high nickel content, moreover, a smooth surface finish is critical to prevent part failure.

Manufacturers use grinding machines with a narrow work wheel requiring several passes to reduce the diameter and achieve acceptable surface finish. Thus creating longer cycle times. Machines are difficult to adjust for setup and changeovers requiring highly skilled technicians. Heavy material removal in a short distance deforms thin walled tubing and causes burns.

Deliver a process with a small footprint that can grind tubes while maintaining a high quality part. Decrease downtime related to maintenance, troubleshooting, and complicated changeovers.

Challenge

Converted OD grinders with custom tooling and soft grinding wheels all of which wear at a high rate. Setup and changeover time is significant and requires extensive mechanical adjustments. Parts, in most cases, must be taped for handling requiring additional steps in the production process. Primary cut leaves a large ID burr which must be removed in a secondary process step such as grit blasting or electro-polishing. Complex needle points, i.e. Menghini points, require separate primary bevel cut and secondary sharpening, leading to long cycle times.

Develop a solution that delivers a process eliminating taping, pre and post processing, allows for quick set-up and changeover, and is capable of handling all variety of points used in the industry.

Challenge

Parts are cut using abrasive cutting saws, conventional abrasive grinding, wire EDM or laser cutting; slow processes resulting in long cycle times. Potential to expose material to high heat leading to heat affected zones, recast, and slag. Requires secondary process to deburr parts and remove any surface debris which reduces productivity.

Design a process that can provide a burr free cut without recast, slag, or heat damage while maintaining a high quality part and reducing cycle time. Reduce the number of steps in the production process.

Challenge

The arthroscopic shaver teeth are commonly produced by conventional abrasive grinding, wire EDM, or laser cutting; slow processes resulting in long cycle times. EDM and laser cutting burn away the metal at high temperatures leaving changes to the metal surface including a heat affected zone, recast, and slag. Laser cutting requires significant post processing to produce an acceptable sharp edge and surface finish. Conventional grinding requires a secondary process of deburring without damaging the cutting edge. It also involves frequent wheel dressing to maintain the correct form.

Design a process that can cut shaver teeth burr free, without recast, slag, or heat damage that improves cycle times.

Challenge

Tubes are cut one at a time using a standard abrasive cutting saw which leaves burrs. Requires secondary process of wire brushing and tumbling to deburr tubes and remove any debris. Older machines have poor accuracy and outdated safety features. Debris from abrasive cuts cause frequent maintenance issues.

Design a process that can cut multiple tubes burr free simultaneously without damage from debris. Reduce the number of steps in the production process. Provide a machine that won’t deteriorate over time.

Challenge

Numerous manufacturers around the world find themselves with legacy equipment incapable of meeting the changing environmental and safety standards recommended by regulatory standards. The customer in this case was operating an outdated grinding system lacking mist control with minimal safety features.

Maintain CE safety and environmental standards without hampering the functionality of the machine. Thrufeed grind 0.003”- 0.006” of material from steel tubes with a tolerance of +/- 0.0002 and achieving a superior surface finish. Lastly, the customer required the ability to connect the machine to the intranet for data gathering, monitoring and remote diagnostics.

 Challenge

The operator would manually feed the stainless steel orthopedic pins into the centerless grinder then manually clean and gauge each pin. Manual input and adjustment were required during the process to ensure quality.

Increase process throughput and quality production by integrating automation. Produce a part every 13 seconds in an automated “lights out” system. Reduce the opportunity for damaging critical features in material handling.

Challenge:

The customer was outsourcing grinding of components and came to Glebar looking for a way to reduce lead times on parts, reduce costs, and bring grinding capability in-house.

Original challenge was to thrufeed 1-½” diameter, 15’ aluminum tubes removing 0.003”-0.006” per pass. The second requirement was for the machine to be capable of grinding 8’ steel tubes which featured a 1” diameter bearing surface in the middle of the tube which could not be ground. This meant that the grind would have to begin in the middle of the tube where the machine had to infeed into that section and then initiate a thrufeed process. The part also had a thin wall that had to be maintained and the grinding process had to be controlled to avoid burning.

Challenge: Customer wants to increase output for steel taps used to drill threaded holes as used in the machining and tooling industry.  In addition to speeding up the throughput time, achieving the exact tolerances is critical for the component to create the proper threads.

Current Process:

A legacy thrufeed centerless grinder with a narrow work wheel is used. Multiple passes to grind the Nitinol tubes to size are required. Highly skilled technicians are necessary to ensure proper setup.

Challenges: 

Long cycle time limits output per shift. Multiple passes can reduce the quality of the tubes. Shorter work wheels apply too much pressure on thin-walled tubing resulting in deformed parts.

Challenge: The customer is looking for a turnkey, one operation automated process allowing a single pass solution for Stainless Steel Bone Pins, for example.

Challenge: To devise a new process for an automotive component manufacturer to automatically grind and gauge pinion shafts for differentials. The shafts are made of hardened steel. The Customer is looking to expand their automotive manufacturing portfolio by bringing large volume production in-house.

Challenge: To design a fully automated turnkey feeding and inspection solution, integrated into to a Glebar GT-610 Thrufeed Grinder that ensures a one hundred percent defect-free product that is ground to a minimum 1.7 CpK and packaged hands-free. 

Challenge: To auto thrufeed grind metal valve seat components which are used in the automotive industry. The customer needed a system which could accurately grind and gauge 3,000 parts per hour. The width and nonsymmetrical geometry, would be the most difficult challenge engineers would face in devising a successful staging and feeding process as they are not able to line and stack up onto a traditional conveyor without falling over. 

Challenge: To grind two mating metal components, with a tight clearance requirement between their surfaces, to create a powered arthroscopic shaver used in orthopaedic joint surgeries.

Challenge: A tier one automotive fastener supplier needed to grind bolts for a major automotive company automatically at high volume, with a high degree of precision.The customer’s existing process was outsourced and was running one part at a time, resulting in a higher cost for our customer.In addition, quality and consistency of the components post grind was an issue.

Challenge: To grind diameters on parts of many sizes and lengths for a manufacturer of aerospace fasteners. The goal was to provide a solution that gave the customer a machine with intelligence, in-process inspection, ease of use and to maximize up time and production rates. 

Current Process:

The grinding of stainless-steel shafts used for Hydraulic Spring Lifters was outsourced. This resulted in higher costs, as well as quality and consistency issues.

Challenges:

Deliver an in-house process to automatically grind a high volume of stainless-steel shafts used for Hydraulic Spring Lifters. The process had to remove a large amount of stock and maintain an 8Ra surface finish. The customer requested that the new process be integrated with their existing automation and superfinishing line.

Challenge: To grind two mating metal components, with a tight clearance requirement between their surfaces, to create a powered arthroscopic shaver used in orthopaedic joint surgeries.

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: Lack of a clear, simple method to inspect the geometric profile of many components. Existing systems are slow, unreliable, and complex to operate.

Challenge: Lack of a clear, simple method to inspect the geometric profile of many components. Existing systems are slow, unreliable, and complex to operate.

Challenge: To grind a variety of tooling punches to extreme precision, while accommodating small lot sizes with short changeover times. 

Asthma inhalers are comprised of a medicine canister fitting inside a plastic sleeve. When the patient pushes the canister, the stem, a small metal pin, releases an actuator inside the sleeve allowing the medication to be released and inhaled by the patient. The stem must mate properly with the actuator to ensure the medication is dispersed properly. Any defect could cause the device to fail.

Current Process & Challenges: Slow Production, High Labor and Integration Costs

Asthma inhaler pins are ground one at a time using multiple production lines and automation integrations. This setup requires a large footprint to meet high demand. Labor and numerous automation integration costs are expensive.

Challenge: To grind burnishing and expander rolls used in manufacturing tubes for a multitude of applications ranging from oil and gas tubes to automotive. Due to the shape of the parts which includes several tapers, the material removal is dramatic requiring several operations. Additionally the rolls are custom shapes so changeover between part types requires reshaping the grinding wheel. 

Challenge: Cycle time reduction and a sharp corner needed for a medical guidewire

Challenge: Lack of a clear, simple method to inspect the geometric profile of many components. Existing systems are slow, unreliable, and complex to operate.

Challenge: Quality, cost control and lead time issues of outsourcing the pre-sizing of titanium and steel bars 

Challenge: Infeed grinding 0.010”  on two diameters over a 7” long metal drill blank in one operation while maintaining 0.0002” diameter accuracy, .00006 roundness and maintaining part straightness and concentricity. 

Challenge: To process trocar points automatically where small lot sizes require frequent equipment changeover. 

Challenge: To eliminate additional processes in the production of guidewires. The conventional process uses several machines to profile a shape in an interventional guidewire.

Challenge: A Medical device customer needed to rapidly changeover between a family of Nitinol guidewires having various lengths and geometries. Since the geometry of the components varied in length, the customer needed to change tooling over frequently, a process that can take up to 4 hours. Also, rapidly removing over 30% of the the material as it thrufeeds into the machine accelerated tool wear on the existing system and as tooling degrades, dimensional integrity suffers.

Challenge: To thrufeed automatically thru feed grind an automotive component and achieve a 1.2 Rz surface finish