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Automation: ECONOmaster drilling units help build trailers

Quill-feed drill uses Suhner drill heads for accuracy and reliability.

Suhner's ECONOmaster is a low-cost, high-output automated drilling unit that puts holes in light metal, composite, thermoplastic, and even wood substrates at high speed with excellent accuracy. It features low power and air consumption.

 

 

 

 

On a recent project for Mid-State Engineering in Tipton, IN, Suhner custom ECONOmaster® drill units were used to automatically drill holes into fiberglass panels for a truck trailer body. Hole sizes were half an inch. ECONOmaster was used to reduce the center-to-center point of the holes drilled by a quill-feed drill.

This quill-feed drill unit has selectable drill heads that can be used in combination or individually. Using servo drive motors, the machine auto indexes down a table to ensure precision hole locations across a 60-ft span. According to Tom Raver, engineering manager at Mid-State Engineering, "The machine helps give our transportation customers a competitive advantage, increasing production volume while reducing rework at the same time."

The ECONOmaster line of drilling units is ideal for multiple materials such as light metal, wood, composite, plastic, and foam. This drilling unit features low power and air consumption, an adjustable motor housing, adjustable total stroke up to 4 in., hydraulic feed control cylinder, J33 taper spindle end, 0 to 1/2-in. drill chuck, electric front and rear position limit switches, belt tensioner, and a chrome-plated quill. Basic unit weight is 45 lb.

Other key features include adjustable feed stroke of 1/2 to 3 in., 400-lb thrust at 85 psi, operating pressures to 110 psi, TEFC/IP56 protection, standard 230-V/460-V, concentricity of .002 in. TIR, speed ranges to 9,600 RPM, and an air connection retract/advance of 1/4 in.-20 NPT.


VIDEO: See Suhner automation tools in action -- including the ECONOmaster at 2 min. 40 sec. -- at FabTech.

Founded in 2008, Mid-State Engineering features an in-house electrical and mechanical engineering staff with over 100 years of manufacturing engineering know-how. This vast experience is used to design and build unique systems tailored to customer applications. In addition, the in-house mechanical and engineering staff also provide in-house fabrication. This makes Mid-State Engineering a one-stop shop for companies looking to enhance their processes or implement new ones.

Click here or the image above to get the Suhner ECONOmaster spec sheet. ECONOmaster units start at under $3,000.

 

 

Mike Ricketts, regional sales manager for the machining division at Suhner, said this collaboration was a perfect match for both companies. It allowed Suhner to offer a wide variety of products with an innovative partner that can offer superb turnkey solutions to meet customer needs.

"The team at MSE is very easy to work with, as they are able to help fill and prioritize the customer's wants and needs with their out-of-the-box approach to each project," said Ricketts. "It is refreshing to partner with a company that can do almost anything from small, intricate assembly cells all the way up to large industrial automated robotic assembly lines."

Want to learn more? Contact:
Lee Coleman
National Sales Manager, Machining Division
Suhner Industrial Products Corp.
706-314-2927
or lee.coleman@suhner.com.

Published July 2020

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