Pneumatic Slides Ease Test Machine Design

August 30th, 2006

Pneumatically operated linear slides are simplifying the design and construction of a new pressure testing machine produced by hydraulic testing expert, Curtis Assemble & Test. Developed specifically to meet the needs of a major automotive manufacturer, the new machine performs high-pressure leakage testing on components which are used in fuel injectors.

Central to the functioning of the machine is a transport mechanism which places the components, four at a time, in the test jig and subsequently removes them when the test is complete. This mechanism requires 150 mm of motion on the X-axis, and 100 mm on the Z axis. The Y-axis is fixed.

While this requirement is relatively straightforward, the pneumatic products, which Curtis Assemble & Test had used in earlier designs, required the manufacture of cumbersome customized adaptor plates to connect the X- and Z-axis slides. In contrast, the pneumatic slides, made by Bosch Rexroth, bolt directly together, without the need for adaptors, brackets or other coupling components.

“Eliminating the adaptor plates may not sound like a huge benefit,” said Steve Cook, Design and Development Manager at Curtis Assemble & Test, “but designing the plates needed for each job takes up engineering time, and then, of course, they have to be fabricated. It’s far easier to do what we do now - simply order standard components and bolt them together.”

The products selected by Curtis Assemble & Test for this application were an MSC miniature slide for the X-axis and one of the recently introduced GSU piston-rod free linear slides for the Z-axis. The MSC slide combines stable guiding with high drive forces, while the rodless design of the GSU slide makes it compact and convenient to use.

For more information on Bosch Rexroth, visit their website. For more information on Curtis, visit the Curtis website.

Entry Filed under: Test Equipment