Guyson Corporation has introduced a robotic blasting system that incorporates a component-manipulating 6-axis robot and a shuttle transfer cart to fully automate processing of tray-loads of components. The new Model RB-TRR-900 is designed for precise surface preparation, shot peening and cosmetic finishing operations.

Guyson RB-TRR-900 has a shuttle cart to transfer a tray of components in and out of the blast chamber, combining the precision and repeatability of robotic blasting with the efficiency of batch treatment.
The robotic blast machine is provided with a single suction-blast gun or pressure-blast nozzle that is rigidly bracketed in a fixed position inside the 42 x 42 x 42-inch blast chamber. Guide rails form a track extension into an antechamber on one side of the blast cabinet. Rolling on the track, the transfer cart bearing a tray full of components is moved in and out of the blast enclosure by a precision linear actuator, and a pneumatically actuated vertical sliding door closes to isolate the load/unload station from the blasting zone.
A Fanuc M-10iA robot with a custom-engineered pneumatic gripper serves as a component handler in the automated blasting system, grasping and removing a part from the tray, presenting the component to the blast, then replacing the finished work piece. A tailored skirt seals the cabinet wall and protects the robot from the potentially abrasive environment of the blast chamber. Fanuc Robotics offers larger and smaller 6-axis robots that can be integrated in the RB-TRR-900, should a different payload or reach be required.
To blast a production lot of parts, a tray of oriented components, typically 6 to 24 in number, is placed on the transfer cart, the sliding load door is closed and a part identification number is entered or selected at the touch-screen control panel. Alternatively, component recognition features are available, including a bar code reader, to positively identify the work and prompt the recall of the correct motion program and blasting process recipe, with automatically controlled parameters such as blast pressure, media flow rate and the duration of the blast and blow-off cycles. While the robotic blast system methodically and identically repeats the surface treatment on each of the components in the batch, the human operator is freed for an extended period to perform other work.
The robotic component manipulator constantly and accurately maintains the specified blast angle, nozzle offset and surface speed, even when following the contours of complex-shaped aerospace or medical parts, which makes it possible to produce extremely consistent surface conditions and eliminate non-conformities in finish quality.
Prospective users of automated and robotic blasting systems are invited to submit sample components for free laboratory testing and application engineering evaluation at Guyson’s factory in northeastern New York State.



The RB-9 machine pictured above incorporates a special safety interlock system designed to comply with the purchaser’s internal machine engineering specifications for robotic equipment. A hand-held wand, a foot pedal and door locks on the blast cabinet and robot cage were integrated by Guyson controls engineers in response to the individual customer’s requirements.


The six-station rotary table of the automated blast machine is mounted on a precision cam indexer that accurately steps the fixtured components through isolation, peening and blow-off chambers within the abrasion-protected cabinet. At two shot peening stations in the blast enclosure, the component-bearing spindles are rotated at controlled speed during the timed process cycle. The spindle rotation speed is adjustable.

ROBOTIC SHOT PEENING SYSTEM
Guyson Corporation has introduced a 7-axis robotic pressure-blast shot peening system that is designed to support compliance with the most demanding process specifications and to enable automated peening of a wide variety of
dissimilar components. The Model RB-10 was developed for technical surface treatment of gears and aerospace components.
The Guyson RB-10 Shot Peening System introduces a new dimension of flexibility in precision surface treatment to NADCAP quality standards.
The 60 x 60 x 60-inch blast cabinet is mated with a 6-axis robot, such as the Fanuc M10iA,
as a blast nozzle manipulator. The shot peening machine’s rotary table has a diameter of up
to 52 inches and is servomotor driven to be controlled as a seventh axis of robotic motion.
Locating hardware is provided to allow interchangeable component-holding fixtures to be
positively and repeatably positioned on the turntable.
During the shot peening cycle, the orientation of the component and the motion of the robotic
nozzle manipulator are synchronized to precisely replicate the programmed tool path,
following the contours of complex-shaped parts, yet constantly and accurately maintaining
the required angle of shot impingement, the correct offset of the peening nozzle from the
target surface and the right dwell or surface speed to control the cold working process.
The peening media delivery system includes an A.S.M.E.-certified pressure vessel of 3.5
cubic foot capacity fitted with high and low shot level sensors, a 3 cubic foot media storage
hopper that automatically adds shot when a low level is detected and, if required, an
electronic shot flow controller to continuously maintain the correct blast pressure and shot
flow rate specified for the shot peening process.
In addition to a cyclone separator for dust extraction, the shot reclamation system includes a
vibratory screen classifier to deliver only shot of the specified size, as well as a spiral
separator to remove any peening shot that is not perfectly spherical.
For metallurgical shot peening applications in accordance with S.A.E. aerospace peening
specification AMS 2432, Guyson offers a SCADA controls package combined with a custom-
designed touch screen human-machine interface (HMI) to enable data verifying all critical
process parameters throughout the shot peening procedure to be captured and logged for
documentation purposes.
Prospective users of robotic shot peening equipment are encouraged to submit sample components for
evaluation in the application engineering laboratory at Guyson’s design and manufacturing center in
northeastern New York State.