Inside ICI


INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR


2018 INNOVATOR OF THE YEAR DePuy Synthes T


he 2018 Innovator of the Year award was presented to DePuy Synthes of Raynham, Massachusetts for


for their work in the field of safety & ergonomics in the foundry shellroom at the Investment Casting Institute’s 65th Annual Technical Conference and Exposition in Kansas City, MO. After being faced with the tedious


task of maintaining two fluidized sand beds, DePuy created an automated conveyor system conducive for use in the confined space of their existing shellroom.


Background In the DePuy foundry shell room, there are two fluidized sand beds. One on the face coat line, and one on the backup coat line. They were filled and topped off by manually lifting 55 lb bags of sand. Biweekly, the sand beds were emptied onto the floor. A screen was placed on top of the tank, and sand was manually shoveled through the screen to separate oversized globules (snerds). The Raynham foundry engineering


team was tasked by EHS to eliminate the following ergo and safety issues: • The need to lift the 55 lb bags of sand to top off the fluidized sand


20 ❘ November 2018 ® bed (EHS limit is 25 lbs).


• Biweekly shoveling of the sand into and out of the tank. During the Shell Room upgrade


perimeter guarding was added, restricting the space where sand was previously dumped and shoveled from. A new method had to be developed.


Collaboration A strategic partnership was formed between the DePuy project team and 3 outside vendors to develop a new and innovative solution. Flexicon Corporation: A world wide


expert in media delivery systems though auger driven tubing.


Kason (Flo-Dynamics, Inc.): Supply


a world class media separation system that sifts out oversized particles (snerds). Ruwac: Supply custom HEPA


vacuum systems that are capable of lifting sand 20 feet.


System Requirements The system had to conform to the following criteria. • Space constraints • Eliminate the ergo need to lift more than 25 lbs


• Ability to sift entire contents of sand tank


• Ability to sift in process • Able to process 3500lbs of material in less than 2 hours


• Maintenance points easily accessible


• Ability to easily top off sand level for production use


Results • Two complete systems were fabricated, one for each fluidized sand bed.


• The systems were delivered and assembled on time and met all EHS and project criteria.


• With the use of a HEPA Vacuum, the process creates less dust resulting in a cleaner environment for the operators.


• Bulk sand containers are now used to replace the 55 lb bags. The bulk container is used to refill the hopper for the weekly production sand requirement.


• Topping off the sand in the fluidized bed is now accomplished at the press of a button.


• The area is cleaner and meets all EHS requirements from the original project scope.


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