Process Improvement for Drill Bit Blanks For MN Twist Drill The Three Orienteers Scott Anderson – Project Leader Andy Johnson – Mechanical Engineer Tony Niemczyk – Industrial Engineer Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering University of Minnesota Duluth Report Number UMDMIE-CD-2006WPDK12

Problem Statement Blanks are coming off of machine without orientation Manually sorted to bins Blanks manually moved approximately 10 feet to coning machine Manually loaded into coning machine

Problem Statement

Scope of Project Orientate drill bit blanks from cut-off machine Directly feed blanks into coning machine Increase throughput Reduce work in progress

Functional Requirements Require little maintenance, less then $2,000/year Reduces manual handling labor Simple in design Utilizes gravity as much as possible Maintains or improves throughput Adaptable to varying lengths and diameters Efficient Implemented with little risk due to offline testing

Constraints & Limitations The speed of the cutting and coning machines which for the cutting machine is 200 parts per minute Budget is a 2 year payback on a $20,000 a year salary based on the reallocation of labor Material type being cut which includes cobalt and various types of steel. Drill bit diameter and length varying from 1/4” to 1/2” and 2 ½” to 6” respectively

Final Design Concept Chute & Hopper Blanks orientate on vibratory table and slide down channels to coning hopper Coning hopper uses rake mechanism Logic senses when blanks are in hopper waiting to be fed into coning machine

Final Design Concept Chute & Hopper

Mechanisms

Economics Installed Cost: $10, Annual Benefits of: –System by itself: $37, –System with reduced setup time: $747, Annual Maintenance (10% of installed cost): $1, Payback Period of: –System by itself: 108 working days –System with reduced setup time: 5 working days

Procedures Programmable Logic Controller Procedure –Sensors in the system check the system for out of control circumstances –Ensure that the hoppers never overflow with material –Determine the operation of the slider plates InputsOutputs Sensor in coning hopper to detect heightTurn off vibratory motor Sensors in coning hopper to move platesMove plates in and out to prevent damage to coning belt Sensor in Vibratory hopper to detect heightTurn off conveyor Pushbutton to determine if setup is happeningSensors are not used until pushed

PLC Flowchart

Setup Improvements A standard process for setup would be very beneficial to process flow Identify external operations Identify internal operations

Acknowledgments We would like to thank Matt Mattson for contacting the University of Minnesota Duluth with a senior design project and for accommodating all of the needs of the group in a respectful and timely manner We would like to thank Scott Allison for giving Matt Mattson the capabilities to go to the University and finance the project Finally we would like to thank our professor’s Dave Keranen and Bill Pedersen for all of their help and advice in the development of the project and for guiding us to not only get the project to completion, but also in a manner to help us learn new skills on our own

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