Guyson Corporation has extended its range of robotic surface treatment equipment to include a 7-axis direct pressure blast machine with a work envelope of 30 x 40 x 30 inches and a small overall footprint for lean, workcell-based component processing.

A 6-axis robot is securely mounted on a rigidly welded pedestal attached to the rear of the blasting cabinet, so that the range of motion of the articulated arm can be used for manipulation of the pressure-blast nozzle. A sturdy safety barrier with an interlocked access door surrounds the back of the machine to exclude workers from the vicinity of the moving robot. The 24-inch diameter turntable of the rotary blast machine is servomotor driven and controlled as an auxiliary axis of robotic motion.
To isolate the robot from the potentially abrasive environment of the blast chamber, the rear wall opening in the blast enclosure is sealed by a custom-tailored skirt made from coated and laminated fabric, with a snug-fitting collar at the end of the arm. Side-hinged swing doors with safety interlocks are provided on the side and front of the robotic blast machine for the loading of parts and to allow
inspection and maintenance access.
In operation, the precision robotic blast system is capable of constantly and accurately maintaining the correct blasting angle, stand-off distance and surface speed, even as it follows the contours of intricate-shaped components. This enables repeatable production of identical surface conditions from one area of the part to another and from part to part.
When a variety of different components are to be processed in the robotic blasting machine, part-holding fixtures can be quickly interchanged, positively located and locked in position by utilizing T-slots and guide pins in the rotary table. No other set-up or adjustment is normally required, because specific component orientation is included in the coordinated motion program for each different part, and other blasting process parameters, such as blast duration and pressure, can be stored and automatically recalled at will.
The size and elaboration of the media reclamation and delivery elements of the robotic blast system depend on the requirements of the impact treatment application. The smallest pressure-blast module is less than four feet in height and is hung on the blasting cabinet itself. For technical surface preparation, a 15-foot tall reclaim stack-up may be needed that includes a cyclone separator, a vibratory screen classifier and a pressure pot with the capacity to hold extra blast media.
To maintain negative pressure in the blasting enclosure and balance the air flow for media reclamation, the robotic pressure-blast system is completed by a reverse pulsing cartridge-type dust collector with an extraction capacity of 1,000 cubic feet of air per minute.
Prospective users of automated or robotic blasting equipment are encouraged to submit sample components for free laboratory testing and application engineering evaluation at the Guyson design and manufacturing center in northeastern New York State.









MULTI-MODE ROBOTIC BLAST SYSTEM
Guyson Corporation has designed and built a robotic pressure-blast machine that operates either as a seven-axis rotary table surface preparation system or as a horizontal roller blasting system for preparing inside and outside diameter surfaces of hollow shaft components. The multiple-mode concept makes a separate roller blast machine unnecessary.
With roller drive assemby installed on servomotor-powered turntable, the multi-mode robotic blast machine includes a lance for grit-blasting ID of hollow-shafted components.
The multi-tasking robotic blast cabinet features a 12-foot-long track extension with a powered transfer cart on which a servomotor-driven turntable of 1,000 kilogram weight capacity is mounted. The table is 84-inches in diameter and provided with T-slots and quick-change fixture locating hardware to enable processing of a wide variety of parts of different shapes and sizes. When the roller drive unit is needed for grit-blasting long cylindrical parts, it can be lowered into position by overhead crane and bolted to the table in less than thirty minutes.
For ID surface preparation in the roller blasting mode of operation, the component is rotated at controlled and adjustable speed, while a lance with an angled pressure-blast nozzle enters the bore of the part, advanced in programmed increments by a linear ball screw / ball nut actuator. The OD of the component can be simultaneously grit-blasted by the robotically manipulated blast nozzle.
Two blast pots, each feeding two pressure-blast nozzles, allow the operator to choose between two different blast media specified for separate surface preparation processes. The media reclamation system separates the recirculating grit by means of two vibratory screen classifiers that deliver only media of the specified size to each pressure pot. Dual media capability further extends the versatility of the multi-mode robotic blast system.
In the rotary table mode of operation, with the rollers removed and one of the interchangeable part-holding fixtures locked in place to positively locate and orient the component, the turntable is controlled as a seventh axis of coordinated robotic motion as the six-axis articulated robot arm executes the nozzle motion program. The correct blasting angle, nozzle stand-off distance and surface speed are precisely and constantly maintained throughout the surface preparation process, even as the robotic nozzle manipulator traces the contours of complex-shaped components.
If desired, control of other blasting process parameters, such as blast pressure or grit flow rate, can be included in the recipe for each component and automatically recalled whenever that part program is selected. The power and the tremendous flexibility of the robotic blasting system is demonstrated by its ability to store hundreds of pre-programmed blasting process recipes for different families of dissimilar components and consistently duplicate the surface finishing results any time each of those parts is blasted.
Prospective users of automated or robotic blasting equipment are invited to submit sample components for free laboratory testing and application engineering evaluation at Guyson’s factory in northeastern New York State.