AFRICAN FUSION—MARCH2014
36
Welding and cutting
I
n automated welding production,
one of the key factors affecting qual-
ity is precise wire feeding – which is
especially true for soft welding wires.
SKS’ Frontpull 7welding torch,with its
F
ollowing impressivegrowth through-
out the course of 2013, liner plate
expert Rio-Carb has spent more than
R9-million on a3000m
2
manufactur-
ing facility in Johannesburg.
Rio-Carb director Martin Maine
notes that the move was made in late
2013, as a result of a significant rise
in demand for the company’s range of
chromium carbide (CrC) liner plates,
pipes and welding wire, which are
proven to be highly effective in abra-
sive applications. “Our new factory is
ThenewRio-Carb factoryhas been
alsobeendesignedwith environmental
sustainability in mind. Maine says:
“Great attention has been paid to re-
ducing CO
2
emissions –more than 80
highbay lightswith400Wglobeshave
been replaced with LED equivalents,
which consume one just eighth of the
original power. And lasting eight to ten
times longer than conventional liners,
our CrC liner plates have always been
more eco-friendly. We have, however,
taken this one step further by following
internationally recognised ISO 14000
certification for waste disposal and
resource conservation.”
Looking at the year ahead, Maine
indicates that Rio-Carbwill be launch-
ing a new line of impact resistant CrC
liner plates, for the mining sector in
particular. “Our advanced new facil-
ity will also enable us to expand our
less established divisions, such as
the fabrication business. With foreign
investment continuing to pour into Af-
rica, I am confident that the potential
for growth in2014 is tremendous,” he
concludes.
Liner plate specialist moves tomore advanced facility
close-to-process drive unit located at
the torchneck, fulfils this requirement.
With this solution, SKS eliminates
synchronisation issues of conventional
push-pull drives. Virtually spatter-free
ignition and welding for
GMAW (gas metal arc
welding) are the main
benefits.
The Frontpull 7 feeds
steel, aluminium or any
other alloyweldingwires
in diameter from 0,8
to 1,6 mm with preci-
sion for any single-wire
arc-welding or soldering
process. In automated
robotic welding, these
wire types mostly come
off a barrel, but they
may also come from a
coil when high-alloyed
or less common alloy
materials are used. The
high-performance 4-roll
drive with an output of
90W reliably feeds wire
at the predefined speed.
Because the wire is fed
by only one wire feeding
system drive, both the
synchronisation issues
between two separate
drives and the unevenness existing
between push and pull operation are
eliminated. The drive forms a single
unit with the torch system.
High reliability has been achieved
byusing thesamecomponentsas those
for the proven Power Feeder PF5 wire
feed system. The Frontpull 7 – along
withall otherSKS torches–keepsaTCP
(tool centre point) accuracy of ± 0,2
mm, even after tool-free changing of
the torch neck.
As the control unit of the wire
feeder is mounted on the upper arm
(3
rd
axis) of the robot, the weight
of the torch system is only 4,8 kg.
The robot can therefore perform fast
acceleration and deceleration opera-
tions, improving welding speeds. To
ensure the perfect interaction of the
weldingmachine and the Frontpull 7,
SKS manufactures all the consum-
ables (eg, retaining heads, contact
tips and gas nozzles) in-house using
CNC machines. The threaded high-
performance retaining head ensures
a secure and precise mounting, en-
hanced current transfer allows the
contact tips to deliver a constant arc
quality and the wearing parts have
a long life, because of the material
property choices of the design.
The Frontpull 7 feeds even difficult welding wires for automated arc
welding and soldering with high precision.
Precise close-to-processwire feeding for precise results
ARio-Carb dust cyclone: The expanded facility will help
the company's fabrication business.
located on a 4000m
2
stand, and has
been redesigned with new facilities to
provide customers with the excellent
product quality that they have come to
expect from Rio-Carb, in substantially
reduced turnaround times,”heexplains.
Among the new additions is a
computer aided design (CAD) plasma
control centre,which is able to stream-
line the productivity of the company’s
plasma cutting machines, by ensuring
moreaccurate sizingandnestingof lin-
ers.Maine reveals that theCAD system
can be linked directly to the designer’s
CADsystem toensure thehighest levels
of precision and accuracy.
“This means that a chute designer
can create amirror image to the near-
est millimetre of the eventual fit of the
liners to ensure that the stud andholes
mate, and that bolting fitscorrectly first
time. This reduces the complexities re-
lated toonsiteassemblyandeliminates
challenges further down the line. The
plasmacentre isoperating24/7 tocater
for breakdown jobs and to eliminate
bottlenecks in production and a 5,0 t
cranehasbeen installed toassistswith
rapid assemblies,” he continues.
