Process Improvement for Drill Bit Blanks

For MN Twist Drill

The Three OrienteersScott Anderson – Project LeaderAndy Johnson – Mechanical EngineerTony 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 cuttingmachine 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: $10,297.55 • Annual Benefits of:

– System by itself: $37,070.00 – System with reduced setup time: $747,070.00

• Annual Maintenance (10% of installed cost): $1,029.76

• 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 platesInputs Outputs

Sensor in coning hopper to detect height Turn off vibratory motor

Sensors in coning hopper to move plates Move plates in and out to prevent damage to coning belt

Sensor in Vibratory hopper to detect height Turn off conveyor

Pushbutton to determine if setup is happening Sensors are not used until pushed

PLC Flowchart

No

Setup

EnableSensors

All SensorsDisabled

Yes NO

TMRPart In top of

Vibratory HopperYes

Part?

TMR

Yes

Part?

Turn offConveyor

Yes

No

No

No

TMRPart In top of

Conning HopperYes

Part?

TMR

Yes

Part?

Turn offVibratory

Motor

Yes

No

No

TMR

Part In ConningHopper

Yes

Part?

TMR

Yes

Part?

Move Plate

Yes

No

No

No

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

MN Twist Drill

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