parameters of machinery.” Te diecasting cell is built around a
fully automated Buhler Carat compact two-platen hydraulic locking diecast- ing system. “Te machine is the first of its kind in
Three vertical machining stations machine out the solid center journals.
South Africa,” said Gary Coull, technical manager. “Te squeeze pin technology allows us to cast the two center journals solid, something that is essential to the integrity of the casting.” Trial pre-shot operations are carried out until both the die and metal are the correct temperature to eliminate stresses and porosity before the next operation. A 2-ton pouring furnace supplies aluminum to the diecasting system. Quality checks are installed throughout the process to avoid unnec- essary operations on castings that will be scrapped. Zealous engineers refer to this as “process security.” “Te casting cell is controlled by
a centrally located ABB robot that extracts the component from the [diecasting machine] before pausing in front of sensors that check the casting’s completeness,” Coull said. “Te robot then moves the casting to a quench tank, followed by a positioning on the cut-off saw for removing the runners and overflow. It then moves the casting to a flatness jig that checks for broken cores and distortion.” Complete castings move to a Borries
The castings are transferred to a CNC machine for measuring and boring.
aluminum components,” Reid said. Zealous currently supplies 70% of
locally produced high pressure castings directly to OEMs, utilizing approxi- mately 8 tons of metal to produce 6 tons of castings per day. In addition to Volkswagen and Toyota, major Zeal- ous customers include ZF Lemforder, Pi Shurlok and Robert Bosh (SA). “Zealous offers our customers
a long-term relationship, utilizing world-class technology with industry accepted processes and up-to-date equipment,” Reid said. “Tis is sup- ported by high-caliber skills, available capacity and a stable supply of quality
20 | MODERN CASTING September 2013 components at cost competitive prices.”
Investing in Aluminum In developing its diecasting opera-
tion, Zealous emphasized automation throughout the manufacturing process. Still, the expansion resulted in the com- pany hiring 31 more full-time employees. “Te essence of the whole manu-
facturing process is automation, trace- ability and quality control,” Hardisty said. “Tere are only two occasions where manual intervention occurs, and those are necessary visual inspections for identifying porosity and defects that fall outside of the capabilities and
marking system that inscribes a dot matrix that includes a part number, date, time and unique consequential number. Tis marking ensures the component will be traceable throughout the manufac- turing process and in the field. Cast- ings then enter to a clipping press that removes excess flash and trims the cored holes. Te ABB robot places castings on an automatic inlet conveyor. Te casting then is removed from the
inlet conveyor by another robot which rotates the casting and places it in a vertical machining center that machines the solid cast center journals. En route to visual inspection, one in 10 castings undergo a complete X-ray inspection using 17 different orientations. “Once this operation is completed,
the robot removes the casting and transfers it to an outlet conveyor,” Coull said. “Here, the first human visual inspection takes place for defects
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