Radwell International’s Blog

The printed circuit board was introduced to us nearly 90 years ago, and along the way, it has seen massive improvements. As technology has progressed and evolved, these boards have continued to become more sophisticated. A printed circuit board or a PCB connects electrical components by conductive paths or tracks that have been printed or etched on the board.  Check out more about What a Printed Circuit Board Is and what it is used for here.

A sound maintenance plan is key to keeping a factory up and running, as it helps ensure both maximum productivity and minimal downtime. While there are several ways to approach the development of a maintenance plan, the following guidelines are applicable across the board for a wide range of factory types.

A relay is a switch that activates a current that turns on a separate circuit. A relay is utilized when a separate circuit is needed or if multiple circuits need to be controlled by an individual signal.  An example of a relay in action is starting a car. A car key doesn’t power a car battery directly, but instead, the ignition signals the relay, which then transfers the signal for the car to start.

What is a Photoelectric Sensor?

Photoelectric sensors are able to detect objects using a light transmitter and a photoelectric receiver. These sensors can assess their surroundings and process the distance of an object and recognize if the object is nearby or absent. Also referred to as the “Photo Eye”, these systems detect a change in light instantly and can easily be incorporated into a variety of different equipment. There are three main ways photoelectric sensors utilize target detection; through-beam, retro-reflective, and proximity or diffused mode.

What is the difference between AC and DC?

 There are two types of electrical currents; direct currents and alternating currents. These are the two-ways electricity flows and is simply the movement of electrons through a conductor. The Direct current was first brought to us by Thomas Edison in the 1800s.  Following, the next type of electrical currents to emerge was alternating currents. During the beginning of this “War of The Currents”, Thomas Edison and Nikola Tesla were in a bitter rivalry.

What is a dynamometer? A dynamometer or “dyno” is an instrument designed for measuring power and force. This can be measured in engines and motors as well as other items. This device is able to calculate power by concurrently measuring torque and rotational speed. This allows you to determine the required amount of power that is needed to run a given machine. If you need to know the power requirement essential to drive an engine, you would attach a dynamometer. This would then force a load on the engine, which is then measured to determine the amount of power needed. Other then just mechanical dynamometers these instruments are also used in an array of other areas like emissions testing, medical needs, and rehabilitation. One of the first instruments to be made was the Graham-Desaguliers Dynamometer invented by George Graham, which was made to measure muscular force. Then Froude Ltd. began to manufacture the engine dyno, and the first commercial instruments were established in 1881 by Heenan & Froude.

A Pneumatic Cylinder is a mechanical device that takes the power of compressed air to produce force and motion, in a linear fashion. Pneumatic cylinders can be divided into a variety of types. There are cylinders with piston rods, rod less cylinders, swivel cylinders, tandem and multi-position cylinders, stopper cylinders, clamping cylinders, drives with linear guide, and bellows and diaphragm cylinders.

The most common and well known out of the above stated pneumatic cylinders are cylinders with piston rods. The two most common cylinders with piston rods are single acting cylinders (SAC) and double acting cylinders (DAC). Both share a similar makeup; cylinder barrel, bearing cap, end cap, piston, and piston rod are the key components that make up both a SAC and DAC. A pneumatic cylinder isn’t made up of only those 5 parts. There are seals, bearings, guiding bands, permanent magnets and many more, but these five as I stated are the KEY parts.

Cylinder barrels were originally just tubes on pneumatic cylinders. Today the cylinder barrels have adapted to an extruded profile instead of a tube. Adapting to this extruded profile gives the pneumatic cylinder one big advantage. The ability to mount more sensors and attachment parts. For example, mounting a clamp or jaw would allow the pneumatic cylinder the ability to pick and place objects.

Today, more then ever, industrial automation is becoming highly prevalent and relied upon to keep up with growing industry expectations. Stemming from the Industrial Revolution manufacturing rapidly increased, which then brought  Mechanization. This made the manufacturing process more optimized and required less labor and amplified production. Currently, with the implementation of automation, we can expand production even further. Now machines are capable of much more and are able to work around the clock and extended productivity.

Piston pumps are used across manufacturing industries as simple hydraulic pumps with many different uses. Some people mistakenly believe that since piston pumps are simple, that maintenance won’t be required. Let’s talk about what a piston pump is, how it’s used, and why it’s so important to maintain.  

What is a piston pump?  

A piston pump works by moving fluids and gases into and out of its chamber. When the piston cup, or moving part within the piston, pushes down, it creates high pressure which allows the chamber to fill. When the piston cup completes its upstroke, that pressure is relieved, which forces the fluid or gas in the chamber out for use.  

CNC stands for Computer Numeric Control. A CNC is an automated manufacturing technique that allows for fast, efficient and repetitive cutting, boring, drilling, machining and fabricating of material by computer-controlled devices. A CNC machine consists of a mini or micro computer that acts as a controller of the machine. All cutting processes are carried out by a range of complex machining tools that are directed by instructions fed into the computer.

Once a particular part has been designed and instructions for machining it have been written, a CNC machine is programmed with those instructions. Raw material is fed into the machine, the setup is completed and the computer does everything else: rotating the part, cutting off various layers, drilling holes to desired depths, even changing cutting bits automatically. Identical parts can be machined over and over, with little or no variance.

The basis of each CNC project is a 2D or 3D CAD drawing which is translated into computer code for the CNC machine to execute.