The disc AFS Corporate Member Washburn Iron Works (Washburn, Wisconsin) casts for an agricultural client isn’t a new product for the company. The gray iron component used for grain/seed separation is one they’ve manufactured for years, but the method needed to be transformed. Instead of producing the cope and drag […]
Robotics
In recent years, flexibility has attracted significant attention from small to medium enterprises (SMEs) in metalcasting and academia due to varying customer demands and increasing competition. Changing operating conditions are forcing firms to be flexible in handling variations in demand and product and uncertainty and changes in the environment. Such […]
Flexibility, Automation in Small Metalcasting Facilities
While methods to automate molten metal transfer from the furnace to the mold have been around for decades, the incorporation of automated pouring in job shops lags behind the adoption of automation in other areas of the metalcasting facility for several reasons—alloy changes, cost, low volume, etc. However, the advantages […]
Controlling Pouring Through Automation
New telemanipulator/robotic technology from Vulcan Engineering Co., Helena, Ala., puts the precision and flexibility of automation at an operator’s fingertips. The Vulcan Tactile System (VTS), which was displayed in action at CastExpo’13 in St. Louis this April, allows an industrial robot to be operated manually in real time putting the […]