November 19, 2020
Manufacturing Equipment

Improving Production Output and Setup Accuracy for Guidewire Grinding

The TF-9D Micro-grinder from Glebar Company helps guidewire manufacturers to improve production rates, provides expanded capability to grind long tapers in one operation, and reduces setup times.

Shorter work wheels prevent generating tapers on guidewires over 4” requiring multiple setups to generate the shape. The manual setup requires a high level of skill, and the variability in setup procedure dictates the yield per setup. In addition, strapped upper and lower slides require a skilled technician to adjust them and can affect the accuracy of the grind. With multiple setups needed to generate the required taper over 4”, production output is limited.

The TF-9D uses servo motor driven upper and lower slides which can be independently adjusted through the HMI. Adjusting the slides independently provides greater accuracy when positioning the regulating wheel and sizing the work rest blade. Slides are positioned to 0.1 micron resolution. This provides consistency and predictability in set up, especially when sizing the work rest blade.

Operators can use the intuitive touchscreen HMI to easily set the automatic dressing sequence for both the regulating wheel and the work wheel. It also stores multiple setups for quick retrieval and changeover.

Once in production, the 8-5/8" diameter work wheel on the TF-9D grinds shapes up to 7.8” per cycle while maintaining quality and repeatability.

The TF-9D can be paired with a feeding system that automatically picks wires out of a bin, loads them into the machine, and unloads a finished part. Typical Glebar installations have one operator running three or more machines because of the reliability of the automation and grinder performance.

“During grinding the TF-9D automatically stages the next part and unloads the finished part,” explained John Bannayan, CTO at Glebar. “In testing, a 5” single tapered wire ran at 10 seconds per piece, which included loading, grinding, and unloading.”

The TF-9D also features an enclosure in compliance with CE requirements and has interlock capability to ensure a clean environment and operator safety.

Source: Glebar Company