Conical plugs

The conical plugs are one- or two-part elements for the purpose of sealing a bore, e.g. in lubrication systems. The conical sealing plug is pressed into a conical bore to seal a bore. The tapered bore compensates tolerances very well. Left in the picture Lee Betaplug® Expansion Plug.

Three press-in devices are available

The conical plug is an element for sealing bores, which is mounted with a pressing tool similar to the ball sealing plug. Depending on the size of the workpiece and the application, the push-in device can be designed in portal, column or table design. The following picture shows the push-in device in column design on a trade fair stand.

With this design, the forces of e.g. 19 kN are applied by a PowerStroke via the tool to the Lee Betaplug® Expansion Plug with a short stroke of 12 mm. A small table is available for the workpiece holder. The force sensor for process monitoring is located between the workpiece and the piston rod. The displacement sensor directly scans the stroke on the PowerStroke. Whether a press-fit process was carried out with an IO result can be read on the display of the measurement amplifier and at the traffic light. At a preset value, the measurement amplifier switches off the energy supply so that the conical plug is not subjected to excessive force. The operation is carried out via two-hand safety switch Saveball.

The fully automatic component for the line

The bowl feeder has a control unit that must be switched on and off and a sensor that monitors the fill level. Switching on is carried out by the jam monitor at the jam section (inductive proximity sensor) as long as Lee Betaplug® Expansion Plugs are in motion there.

The accumulation line is inclined by approx. 30° and allows the BETAPLUGS to be transported only by gravity in the direction of the separation. If there are 10 to 11 BETAPLUGS in the accumulation section, the bowl feeder is switched off by a signal from the inductive proximity switch so that the BETAPLUGS do not back up into the bowl feeder. The bowl feeder is switched on when the inductive proximity switch is no longer addressed by the BETAPLUGS.

The separation has a compact cylinder, the movement from the basic to the working position is done by a 5/2-way valve and thus a BETAPLUG is separated into the hose, which is monitored by a sensor at the beginning of the hose.

The BETAPLUG is transported by blowing with compressed air via a 3/2-way valve on the valve terminal. Whether the BETAPLUG has arrived at the transfer is optionally monitored by a proximity sensor in the Y-channel.

The BETAPLUG is pushed into the transfer position by a compact cylinder with a stroke of 50 mm at reduced pressure. The basic and working position of the cylinder is monitored by one proximity switch each. The BETAPLUG is thereby pressed with the transfer finger against a finger which builds up a counter force by the spring force of the second compact cylinder. After approx. 16 mm this cylinder reaches its working position, which is indicated by a proximity switch. The BETAPLUG is now located centrally under the installation tool.

To extend the power cylinder, the installation tool is first extended pneumatically in rapid traverse. The power stroke is switched on by a pneumatic sequence control after the BETAPLUG hits the hole. The correct time is adjusted by a throttle at the head of the power cylinder.

The pressure intensifier integrated in the power cylinder is single-acting and is automatically activated by the pneumatic sequence control. The pressure transmitter is connected to the measuring port of the power cylinder, which is directly connected to the Digiforce 9310 measurement amplifier. In the middle part of the housing for the installation tool is the analogue proximity switch, which indirectly measures the force path when a starting pressure has built up. It is connected directly to the Digiforce 9310 amplifier. The Digiforce 9310 amplifier is connected to the PLC via Profibus by the customer. The same applies to the valve terminal. Two switching points can be defined on the measured value amplifier.

The switching point press-in force reached by the measuring amplifier is used to switch off the press-in process, return to the home position and output an IO signal. An inductive proximity sensor detects when the press-in tool has reached the home position. The press-in unit is moved to the next processing position by a customer-side handling unit with two axes.

The following video shows in detail the function of this component for the automatic processing of the conical plug.