Vacuum Casting Machine Control for Orchid Orthopedic Solutions

Orchid Orthopedic Solutions in Sheffield (www.orchid-ortho.com), market leaders in the manufacturing of cast, forged and finished orthopaedic implants, called on IJ Controls to assist in their continuous improvement programme.

The task was to look at improving an automated facility for pouring molten metal within one of their vacuum furnaces.

The system enabled furnace operators to pour a mould using a joystick to control the rate at which molten metal is poured into the mould. The control system recorded the pour profile replaying this every time the same part was cast.

The challenge to IJ controls, as specialists in this field, was to ensure that the process was robust, repeatable, safe and user friendly.

Our specialist engineers investigated by monitoring the speed of rotation of the crucible and found that there was an unacceptable level of 'free play' in the hydraulic actuation system that rotated the crucible. We recommended replacing the hydraulics with a servomotor, specified the required set of components, then designed, installed and commissioned the finished system including rewriting the PLC code to control the new hardware.

As a result the repeatability of the pour profile is now as close to 100% as can be measured; this has improved productivity and reduced scrap and rework.

Ashley Saunby, Maintenance Team Leader at Orchid Orthopedic Solutions commented, “This is an excellent example of working in conjunction with experts in the field to ensure our processes and products continually evolve within a demanding environment.”