Maintenance minimised in fully automatic finger-jointing line

lubrication-free storage technology and energy chain work reliably in dusty environments

Up to 200 squared timbers per minute run through the fully automatic VSS200 production line from the Estonian company Aramet. The feeding system for vertical finger jointing lines is a high-end product with an integrated sorting solution in which the workpieces pass through an AI-supported quality control system. In order for the production process to run smoothly, the numerous moving machine components must work reliably in the dusty environment. Aramet therefore relies on linear technology, plain bearings and energy chain from igus®.

Profile

From the feeding unit with centrifuge to the indexer, quality inspector and sorter through to the bundling system: in all parts of the fully automated production line VSS200 are our dust-resistant products in use.

What was needed: electrically and manually adjustable linear axis, linear rails and slides, plain bearings and energy chain

Requirements: long service life, dirt resistance, lubrication/maintenance-free

Sector: Wood industry

Success for the customer: Production and maintenance costs can be reduced with the maintenance-free linear modules and plain bearings. Thanks to their dry running, the bearing points with our products do not become clogged with wood dust, which would lead to a loss of function with lubricated bearing technology. The compact energy supply protects the moving cables from wear and thus also contributes to trouble-free system operation.

How the system works

VS200 production line from Aramet, feeding

Feeding solution

In the first step, the unsorted squared timber is automatically unloaded onto a centrifuge. From there, they are placed in a row in a feeding channel. Up to 200 pieces of timber per minute run from here to the indexer and then on to the sorting system.

VS200 production line from Aramet, quality scan

Sorting solution with quality scan

A quality scanner determines the quality levels of all four sides of the squared timber. In addition, the direction of the annual rings at the end of a timber is determined using machine learning and artificial intelligence algorithms. Depending on the quality determined, the squared timbers are either ejected or brought into the correct position.

VS200 production line from Aramet, bundling unit

Feeding into the finger jointing line

The tested workpieces are assembled into a bundle, aligned at the stop-dog and fed into the infeed of the downstream finger-jointing line.

Problem

Ingmar Roosilehe and Hendrik Rossi are board members and mechanical engineers at Aramet and can look back on 12 years of experience in system development. The development of the VSS200 production line with AI-supported quality inspection was a particularly exciting project in which Aramet brought the IT experts from Leanest and manufacturers of suitable machine components on board.

The system has countless moving components, including numerous vertical and horizontal axis adjustments. These include aisle adjustments or height adjustment in the centrifuge and on the roller axis in the indexer. They are needed because the system works with a wide range of different workpiece sizes. The adjustments can be carried out automatically by servomotors, but can also be controlled manually by an operator using a hand crank in the event of malfunctions in the automatic system.

The engineers' requirements for the linear modules and other moving machine elements were demanding: they had to bedirt-resistant and guarantee along service life with minimal maintenance. If bearing points have to be relubricated regularly, this costs time, material and labour. The greased points are then still a problem, as the wood dust that is constantly flying around quickly settles there and impairs smooth running. "Every point that needs to be serviced has to be noted somewhere, and if someone forgets to do that, then something breaks," says Ingmar.

Solution

Wherever possible, Aramet decided to use our lubrication-free dry-tech® bearing products, which are unaffected by the dusty environment. Numerous linear tables from the drylin® series,SHT which are equipped with a hand wheel on one side and a servomotor on the other, are used along the entire format adjustment system. There are also linear guides with various rail profiles. For example,drylin® R-shaft guides are used in the gripper unit, which transports the bundled squared timber to the next conveyor belt. The moving cables are protected by medium-sized and small energy supplies from the E2/000 and E2.1 micro series.

In addition to linear technology and energy chain, our plastic plain bearings made of the all-round material iglidur® G are also used in various places, for example in the cross links of the ejector for faulty timber in the

sorting unit. The lubrication-free components drastically reduce the maintenance effort and machine downtimes. igus® was able to score points with Aramet with additional time savings: 3D models and technical drawings can be easily downloaded from the igus® website without having to register, and the prices can be viewed directly. "When it comes to deciding on a product, it's important to know immediately how much it costs," says Ingmar, emphasising the importance of transparency and user-friendliness. According to Hendrik, they only work with suppliers from whom both 3D models and prices can be retrieved quickly.

"Wherever the maintenance- and lubrication-free products from igus® can be used, I install them. They are affordable, durable, simple and also work in a dirty environment."

Ingmar Roosileht

Board member and mechanical engineer, Aramet OÜ

Products used

drylin® drive technology

SHT spindle-linear axis

drylin® linear guide

iglidur® plain bearing

sleeve bearing, iglidur® G

energy supply

VS200 production line from Aramet, feeding unit

The system contains numerous vertical and horizontal axis adjustments in which drylin® linear technology is used. Here you can see the height adjustment in the loading unit.

VS200 production line from Aramet, indexer unit

The linear axis are controlled by electric motors. In the event of failures, they can also be operated manually using hand cranks.

For a secure energy supply: Where cables move, small and medium-sized e-chain® are used, such as here in the bundling unit.

VS200 production line from Aramet, detail with drylin® R

The machine components are constantly surrounded by wood dust. This is no problem for the dry-running bearing technology from igus®, which does not require any external lubrication.