Principal manufacturing companies in the US such as Precision Products Inc (PPI) no longer concentrate only on the manufacture of precision parts for the industry. Today, PPI has also diversified into other tasks such as laser barrel alignment, gearbox repair and melt pump refurbishment.
In almost all manufacturing plants you can save a large amount of time and money by having the equipment properly aligned. When you carry out the alignment using laser you lower replacement parts costs and decreased down-time besides bringing about reduced wear on the critical components and lowering power consumption. There is a very small tolerance between the screw and the extruder barrel. Proper alignment of the barrel relative to the output shaft of the gearbox dramatically increases the output and life of the extrusion line over its life cycle. Extrusion barrel alignment using laser therefore is one of the commonest uses of laser alignment.
The larger and longer the extrusion screw, the more critical the proper alignment becomes. If there is a misalignment of only 0.060” on a 4” 24:1 screw you will need more than 9000lb force on the screw to bend it to conform to the misaligned barrel. This huge force results in extra wear on the screw and barrel and this will lead to premature failure. Once the tolerance between the screw and barrel is compromised the extruder output is reduced and both line efficiency and profits suffer. Laser barrel alignment prevents such a situation that may even lead to a broken screw.
Extrusion barrel alignment using laser is the best way of preventing improper alignment. This should be carried out each time the screw is removed and whenever the gearbox is decoupled from the extruder. PPI carries out this exercise in 8-10 hours or less and ensures deviation of less than 0.001”.
In almost all manufacturing plants you can save a large amount of time and money by having the equipment properly aligned. When you carry out the alignment using laser you lower replacement parts costs and decreased down-time besides bringing about reduced wear on the critical components and lowering power consumption. There is a very small tolerance between the screw and the extruder barrel. Proper alignment of the barrel relative to the output shaft of the gearbox dramatically increases the output and life of the extrusion line over its life cycle. Extrusion barrel alignment using laser therefore is one of the commonest uses of laser alignment.
The larger and longer the extrusion screw, the more critical the proper alignment becomes. If there is a misalignment of only 0.060” on a 4” 24:1 screw you will need more than 9000lb force on the screw to bend it to conform to the misaligned barrel. This huge force results in extra wear on the screw and barrel and this will lead to premature failure. Once the tolerance between the screw and barrel is compromised the extruder output is reduced and both line efficiency and profits suffer. Laser barrel alignment prevents such a situation that may even lead to a broken screw.
Extrusion barrel alignment using laser is the best way of preventing improper alignment. This should be carried out each time the screw is removed and whenever the gearbox is decoupled from the extruder. PPI carries out this exercise in 8-10 hours or less and ensures deviation of less than 0.001”.