FULLY AUTOMATED REFRIGERATION TUBE CLEANING & END CAPPING LINE (12732)

MACHINE# 12732

SPECIFICATIONS:

Manufacturer: CIES - Complete Industrial Engineering Solutions
Pty. Ltd. (Australia)

Purpose: To Automatically Clean and Cap the Ends of ACR Grade Tubing

Year of Manufacture: ...... 2007
Size Range (O.D.): ........ 12.7mm - 50.8mm (1/2"- 2")
Length Range: ............. 5m - 6.1m (16 1/2 - 20 FT.)
Rate: ..................... Approx. 5 Tubes per minute

General:

The capping machine has been designed to clean and cap lengths of copper
tube into bundles. The machine will clean and cap 5m to 6.1m (16 1/2 Ft.
to 20 Ft.) lengths of copper tube in the following outside diameters: 9.5mm,
12.7mm, 15.9mm, 19.1mm, 22.2mm, 25.4mm, 28.6mm, 31.8mm, 34.9mm and 50.8mm
(Note: Any other size within this range can be done by acquiring additional
tooling).

Machine Composition:
The machine is composed of the following individual pieces of machinery.

Bundle infeed frame to receive bundles of uncapped tubes and align the tubes
for feeding into the walking beam conveyor.

Walking beam to pass the tubes through the cleaning and capping machine to
the bundle collection frame one at a time.

Bundle collection frame to collect the cleaned and capped tubes.

Foam wad blower to clean inside of tube by blowing a foam wad through the
tube and into a collection bin at the other end of the tube.

Two capping machines to fit plastic caps to both ends of the copper tube.

All of this is controlled by a central PLC located in the operators console.

The entire machine is surrounded by a perimeter guard.

Capping Machine Operation

Bundle Infeed Frame:

The Copper tubes are loaded into the rear of the bundle infeed assembly by
means of five slings and a crane.

The slings are hooked onto the hooks provided on the tube capping machine.

When the capping procedure commences, the drive at the rear of the infeed
assembly tensions the slings, feeding the tubes to rest on the first gate.
Once at the front of the infeed machine, gate one (pneumatic cylinder and 'L'
bracket) is lowered allowing the tubes forward onto the aligning conveyor.

The aligning conveyor shifts forward and backward in order to achieve all
tubes aligned and stacked no more than one high on the conveyor, ready for
processing on the walking beam.

Once this is achieved gate two (pneumatic cylinder and 'L' bracket) is
lowered allowing the Copper tubes to shift forward onto gate three
(pneumatic cylinder and 'L' bracket) to await positioning on the walking
beam.

The clamping cylinder lowers onto the second tube in the stack, holding all
further cylinders in position.

Gate three lowers allowing the first tube to fall onto the walking beam.

Gate three rises to await the next tube.

The clamping cylinder rises, allowing the remaining tubes to stack up
against gate three.

Once the walking beam is positioned, the process repeats until there are no
further tubes to be positioned on the walking beam.

Walking Beam:

Once released by gate three, the copper tube rolls forward and onto the
first groove on the walking beam.

While still in the upper position, the walking beam shifts horizontally so
that the tube is positioned above the first fixed holding position.

The walking beam is lowered and the tube now rests on the first fixed
holding position.

Remaining in the lower position, the beam returns to gate three and rises.

A second tube is positioned on the first position on the walking beam by
gate three as described above. The previous tube has now been collected by
the second groove on the walking beam.

As the beam shifts the second tube to the first position, the first tube is
indexed to the next position.

This process will continue provided there are tubes being fed onto the
walking beam.

Foam Wad Blower:

The Copper tube is held at position two by a clamping cylinder.

A foam wad is blown through the tube and collected in the bin at the
opposite end of the tube.

When the cylinder is indexed to the next position, a sensor and collector
positioned at each end of the tube determines whether the foam wad has been
blown clear of the tube.

If it is detected that the foam wad is still within the tube, the control
system notes the position of the tube and rejects it at the bundle
collection frame (see below).

Capping Machine:

The tubes are capped as they pass along the walking beam. Capping occurs at
position six and nine on the fixed frame of the walking beam. Each position
corresponding to a different end of the tube.

The clamping cylinder lowers, pinning the cylinder in place. The clamping
paddles also move horizontally into place retaining the tube.

The caps are gravity fed down a Nylon rail from the bowl feeder, so provided
the bowl feeder is not empty, there will be caps awaiting use.

The pick cylinder pivots around the horizontal axis and positions the shaft
above the cap. The vacuum is activated and the cap is collected by the
cylinder.

The cap pivots around the horizontal axis until it is horizontal.

The shaft extends and meets with the extended shaft of the capping cylinder.

The vacuum on the pick cylinder turns off and the vacuum on the capping
cylinder activates, thus transferring the cap to the capping cylinder.

The capping cylinder pivots 90 degrees about the vertical axis, positioning
the cap in-line with the Copper tube.

The capping cylinder extends and the suction pressure reverses, placing the
cap on the tube.

There is a sensor mounted to the capping cylinder which verifies whether the
cylinder has reached its full stroke, if the capping cylinder reaches full
stroke it is assumed that the cap has been correctly fitted to the tube. If
the cylinder does not reach its full stroke, then the cylinder will be
rejected at the bundle collection frame.

The capping and the pick cylinders retract, both pivoting around their
respective axes to the home position, awaiting the next tube.

The clamping cylinder releases the capped tube to continue down the walking
beam.

Bundle Collection Frame:

Prior to the machine commencing the capping operation, the slings must be
loaded onto the hooks in the collection bays of both the rejected tubes and
the capped tubes.

The final indexed position of the walking beam is such that the tube is in
reach of the five levers (each with a machined groove the same as those
found on the walking beam) rotating on a fixed shaft which make up the
collector link.

When the tube reaches the final position on the walking beam it is
positioned on the grooves in the collector link.

The collector link moves either up (completed tube) or down (rejected tube)
allowing the tube to fall into the corresponding bundle.

After the tube has fallen the collector link is automatically repositioned
horizontally awaiting the next tube.

At the completion of the bundling operation, the machine will cease allowing
a crane operator to lift the slings from the hooks, remove the capped copper
tubes and to clear the rejected tubes if necessary.

NOTE: The Line has been designed with several "empty" stations in the
process chain to allow the buyer to add additional steps of functions to be
performed on the tube without necessitating a complete re-design of the
line. These stations could be used for such functions as deburring or
nitrogen charging of the cleaned tubes.

Machine Cost $525,000 AUD in 2007

**PRICE QUOTED AS IS WHERE IS SUBJECT TO PRIOR SALE**

**ALL SPECIFICATIONS ARE SUBJECT TO VERIFICATION BY PURCHASER**