Customer
Our client is a designer and manufacturer of shock absorbers. These shock absorbers are used in the marine, railway and defence industries, etc.
Manufactured product
Elastomer shock absorber
Shock absorbers are mechanical systems that use thermal energy to reduce the violence of an impact. These shock absorbers are most often designed to control the braking of a specific mass. Elastomer, also known as rubber, is an "elastic" material that can withstand very large deformations before breaking.
Objective
Design a production bench for pressure filling of elastomer dampers with volume and pressure control.
Problematic issues
The filling of the elastomer in the dampers must be done under high pressure (approx. 2000 bar)
Solution and result
The "plodder", a special production machine designed by our teams, is equipped with a double-acting hydraulic cylinder which is used as a plunger in a high-pressure elastomer chamber.
The chamber is filled with elastomer by the recoil of the piston, accompanied by a special high pressure valve. The charge is provided by an external pump unit (piston extrusion pump).
The maximum injection pressure is limited to 2000 bar.
- The operator places the damper to be filled on the machine
- The elastomer chamber is filled via the extrusion machine
- The operator controls the plunger via the control panel to inject the elastomer into the damper to be filled
- Once the desired pressure is reached, the operator moves the plunger backwards
- The operator releases the damper and removes it from the machine.
Different tools are available to fill a wide range of hydraulic dampers.
The control panel consists of a joystick, connected to the software via a PC, thus simplifying the control of the machine.
The production bench is equipped with various safety systems related to the use of high pressure. Pressure switches keep the elastomer pressure constant and safety valves are installed to limit the risk of overpressure.
IHM
Human-computer interface
