The Flimple Machine by Superior Manufacturing Group
The Flimple machine is a continuous motion system that utilizes dual barrel cams capable of producing over 200 parts per minute. During the first four months of production over 5 million parts were produced on one machine.
The machine consists of two sections, a Hoppmann Feed system and the Superior Rotary Flimple Machine.
Parts feed into the Hoppmann elevator hopper from the part washers and are conveyed via a flighted belt into the Centrifugal bowl feeder as needed. The bowl feeder orients the parts and discharges them to a U-shaped air conveyor which feeds the Superior Rotary Flimple Machine.
During production The Flimple Machine rotates at a rate up to 19.4 RPM producing a maximum output of 194 parts/minute. The machine has an infeed section which mates up to the Hoppmann airveyor and feeds the rose covers into the star wheel section on the (10) stations of the rotary mechanism. The customer parts travel with the wheel to the edge of the infeed track and drop onto the pre-nest assembly on each station. A center barrel cam drives thepre-nest assembly with part down to the die station below and clamps the cover onto the die set. If the part has holes, a rotary mechanism aligns the holes with the dies as the nest assembly travels downward. The die inners expand to the inside of the parts and the punches form the flimple as the die set rotates through a set of tracks and cams. After the flimple is formed, the pre-nest (driven by the barrel cam) lifts the cover back up and places it on an unload track. The pre-nest drops away and the cover is ejected from the star wheel by the unload track onto a belt conveyor which carries the part to an unload tote.
The machine consists of two sections, a Hoppmann Feed system and the Superior Rotary Flimple Machine.
Parts feed into the Hoppmann elevator hopper from the part washers and are conveyed via a flighted belt into the Centrifugal bowl feeder as needed. The bowl feeder orients the parts and discharges them to a U-shaped air conveyor which feeds the Superior Rotary Flimple Machine.
During production The Flimple Machine rotates at a rate up to 19.4 RPM producing a maximum output of 194 parts/minute. The machine has an infeed section which mates up to the Hoppmann airveyor and feeds the rose covers into the star wheel section on the (10) stations of the rotary mechanism. The customer parts travel with the wheel to the edge of the infeed track and drop onto the pre-nest assembly on each station. A center barrel cam drives thepre-nest assembly with part down to the die station below and clamps the cover onto the die set. If the part has holes, a rotary mechanism aligns the holes with the dies as the nest assembly travels downward. The die inners expand to the inside of the parts and the punches form the flimple as the die set rotates through a set of tracks and cams. After the flimple is formed, the pre-nest (driven by the barrel cam) lifts the cover back up and places it on an unload track. The pre-nest drops away and the cover is ejected from the star wheel by the unload track onto a belt conveyor which carries the part to an unload tote.
Our proof of concept took place on a Hass machine.
The 3D Modeling was completed usign Pro Engineer Wildfire 5
The customer (hawaiian shirt) just arrived at our facility.
This was the first time the machine was turned on and it produced finished parts to spec, what a success!
This was the first time the machine was turned on and it produced finished parts to spec, what a success!
This movie is taken with the camera mounted to the tooling while it rotates at a slow rpm. This view shows how the part enters the dieset and receives the "flimples".
Three systems were design and release at the same time.
Centrifugal bowl feeder filled an airveyor which fed into the Flimple machine.
Finished part - Brass
Finished part - Steel
