Understanding the intricacies of sensitive applications

Jason Sutton, Area Sales Manager at SMC Australia|New Zealand, offers important pointers for manufacturers and OEMs to consider when selecting the right automation supplier for the job. Beyond being a supplier, Jason notes the importance of looking for a partner — a reliable and flexible supplier who can walk the long road with you.

Selecting the most suitable products for sensitive applications such as wet areas, is vital to the smooth-running of an application to ensure improved efficiencies and reduced downtime. Today, many dairy and food producers are making use of thinner plastics and as such, automation components need to be able to handle the intricacies of such materials.

“We have come across more and more dairy packaging machines which make use of thinner plastics and here, not just any brand can be spec’d. Wetter environments too require specific components to do the job and to ensure a long service life,” Jason notes.

There are many important factors to consider when automating an application such as this, Jason elaborates on these:

• More splash

Jason notes that the use of thinner materials/bottles can result in more frequent splash due to the decrease in material strength.

• IP rating

“Environments such as these adhere to stringent health and safety requirements and as such, an IP67 rating is required when selecting your products.”

• Price consideration

After establishing a relationship, a customer will find that customer support should be top of their supplier’s priority list. “In understanding the scope and target price, a supplier will understand the intricacies of the application and will walk the journey with you to find the best possible solution. The consideration between selecting a full stainless-steel actuator needs to be balanced against using a standard cylinder with stainless-steel inclusions to limit corrosion. The application, occurrence and severity of the splash or wash-down needs to be considered and an SMC Sales Engineer will be able to guide you through this,” Jason continues.

• The right products for the right job

Products may be required to withstand splash zones and wash down. A simple special can be requested to ensure that a standard CP96 ISO cylinder is supplied such that those components likely to corrode are replaced with stainless steel — XC68 and XC7 depending on the level of wash down. “SMC prides itself on simple specials — simple modifications made to standard products to give your application that desired edge.”

A popular choice, the CG5 stainless-steel cylinder uses a special scraper and offers a different rod seal material so that fluid can be wiped off before retracting. “As the norm, when the cylinder retracts some fluid will be drawn into the actuator, the special wiper as standard on the CG5 limits the fluid transmission,” says Jason. “Seals on the CG5 cylinder are replaceable so the life cycle of the cylinder is extended.”

An IP67 valve bank paired with the modular EX600 serial interface is recommended to withstand full wash-down and is expandable as a flexible offering. In addition, a diverter is able to divert the sequencing of the machine to increase the speed. SMC carries a large stockholding of the EX range which is available within 24 hours delivery.

“High speed operation enables diversion of bottles so that a machine can run more than one bottle on one line. Here, the diverter will sort it to size. Electric drives such as that of the LEJ from SMC are ideal for precision and offer a stainless-steel dust seal band as a splash guard.”

Jason concludes by noting that like with any automation that requires the use of compressed air, clean and properly prepared air is vital in environments such as this. “SMC offers air preparation equipment for all environments and a host of applications.”

SY5000 Manifold rated IP69K for wet environments.

LEJ – electric actuator animation

EX 600 serial interface animation

SMC Corporation are the world leaders in pneumatic technology and are experts in automation control. Formed in Japan in 1959, the company now offers over 12,000 basic products with 700,000 variants. The company employs over 22 000 people worldwide and is situated in over 80 countries. SMC is the world’s leading pneumatics provider and has been voted for three consecutive years as one of the most innovative global companies by leading business magazine, Forbes.

Website: www.smcanz.com

For sales enquiries please contact: AUsales@smcanz.com or NZsales@smcanz.com

Top image: CG5 stainless-steel cylinder