SYNTHESIS REPORT INON-CONFIDENTIAL

CONTRACT N: PROJECT N*: BRE2-CT93.890 CR-1247-91

TITLE:

Flexible Manufacturing Technology For Coil And Helical Spring Products

PROJECT COORDINATOR: Pera

PARTNERS:

Siddall & Hilton (Springs) Ltd Bevans Holdings (Leicester) Ltd TRW United - Carr Ltd Tempered Spring Company Ltd TC. HP Herckelbout Spring Steel (Productions) Ltd Schenker Maschinen AG SRAMA IPA Fraunhofer

REFERENCE PERIOD FROM 1 JAN 1994 TO 30 JUN ?996

STARTING DATE: 1 JAN 1994

DURATION:

21C] MONTHS

* * * * ** * ** * * * E

PROJECT FUNDED BY THE ELJROPEAN COMMUNITY UNDER THE B!? ITEIEURAM PROGRAMME

NON-CONFIDENTIAL

Flexible Manufacturing Technology For Coil and Helical Spring Products

R I Wrigley, BSC, CEng, S W J Fawcett, BSC, CEng and T J Brown, BEng Pera, Technology Centre, Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire, England, LE13 OPB

ABSTRACT Coiled and helical springs are the most commonly used type of springs, however the manufacturing process whereby they are coiled has not been fully investigated until now. Within this two year collaborative research project a novel automated coiling head assembly has been developed and demonstrated. This assembly controls all the spring machines coiling tip movements wiih very high levels of accuracy and repeatability. The developed system has been demonstrated in Industry to w=rk equally well with the machine working on and off line. A camera vision parametric measurement system for springs, that has also been developed within the project, which when !inked to the cmtrol system provides for the first time closed loop control of the spring coiljng process. Within the framework of the project the wire raw material parameters that affect wire boilability have also been investigated and optimised by using Taguchi experimentation techniques thereby yielding a more robust industrial process. The processs finishing operations are generz!!y well understood and controlled within the spring making industry. However the c=iling process lS not, Indeed setting a machine to nake springs of a certain design can take a skill.?d Coiler a significant time, anywhere from a few hours to a few days. The spring manufacture=. conside: the coiling process to be the cause of the majori> of manufacturing problems. Furthermore, we understand that the coiling tip a:ez is the one area of the production coiling machine that is not currently commercially available as an autormded movement in the latest CNC ceiling machines. The specific industrial objective of the project was to produce an innovative, highly Integrated, flexible manufacturing technology for coil and helical spring products. The pr~jects industrki consortium had determined that their industry would not be able to meet the demands of customers, in terms of variety, cM, and resp~rise time for their spring products with the curren: aging manufacturing technolo~y. The key aspect of the spring manufacturing process is the lengthy and specialised coiling point set-up and its maintenance during the coiling process. Other key proc~ss aspects related to reducing the operatin~ ccsts of the process and the addition of on-line monitoring of

INTRODUCTION Coiled and helical springs are the most commonly used type of springs in industry today. The manufacturing process has not changed significantly in the last fifty years or so. Coiled springs are most commonly produced from wire of a circular cross section by the following continuous process. The raw material wire is placed on a rotating holding reel, called a swift, from which the wire is unreeled by the drive roller(s) of the coiling machine. The wire can be cleaned or lubricated and straightened after unreeling prior to entry into the coiling machines drive roller(s). The driven wire leaves the roller(s) and is then deformed against two fixed coiling tip tools which are positioned so to helix the deformed wire into a coil. After the second coiling tip is located a pitch tool which introduces the spring pitch and shape into the coiled wire helix. A moving cutting tool and fixed mandrel are also located after the second coiling tip to cut the coiled wire to length as the springs are produced, The springs then fall into storage bins or onto conveyors for further finishing operations, These further finishing operations include; stress relieving, end grinding, shotpeening, hotpressing, heat treatment and final inspection.

SYNTHESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

Issue: 1

August 19S5

NON-CONFIDENTIAL product quality and machine performance. As a result of investigations and discussions with indust~, the following aspects of the spring making process were selected as the backbone of the programme of work for this research project :the design and development of actuated coiling head prototypes to demonstrate robustness and to gain detailed information about the relationship between the position of the coiling tips and the springs produced parametric measurement of the spring during manufacture control systems for the manipulation of the parametric measurement and coiling head positional data to provide feedback to move the coiling tips in real time analysis of spring machine operation using Taguchi methods to achieve a more robust manufacturing process Thus the project activities were structured as indicated by the project flowchart below :Automated Coiling Head

The key element of a spring coiling machine is the coiling head function, which requires the incoming wire material to deform qgairtst one cr two coiling tip tools. The position of these coiling tips is critical to the forming actiari and can require a considerable time to set up. The essence of the problem is thzrt the coiling tips do not have the ability to automatically move in three dimensions, and this limitation means that it is not possible to take account of material variations, wear in tooling, drift in machine set%g, and the provision of automatic A up. Problems of tool setup and cons%tent qualik; of spring production is further complicated by th= introduction of a further variable, the pitch tool. Pitch toolmotion is critical as slight changes i.-. pitch tool position are translated iG rmeasurahie changes in spring specification. The project objective was to desig~ a coiling head which aHowed three dirnensionzl movement of the two coiling tips incorporating the functions!!ky of the pitch tool. Movement required is typically Al 0 deg tilt in al! axes, and *I5 deg rotation. lfthis m~tion is available in real time whilst coilin:g a product, and the physical characteristics of the product cou!d be measured, then the potentiai for a self compensating machine having the ability of r+d repeatable set up could be realised. A number of coiling head design concept op~~=ns were considered prior to the design and manufacture of the first prototype coiling he.as: This coiling head was fitted as = direct replacement to a fixed coiling tip bolder to a mechanical Cam Coiler host machine. The combination was extensively tesmd during October 1995 to prove its robustness and technical suitability, and a series of experiments were undertaken to establish a ccmtrol algorithm for the spring coiling process. As a result of these tests it was needed to develop the basic design to enable both crciling tips to be actuated. This redesign generated the second prototype coiling head which was fitted to the host machine and tested during Februay 1996. Subsequent analysis of the res~lts of these iests

Undemlandlng + I&tint Require.ments I Coikng Point Corwpk

:101 ;11;1
Parametric Meawmment of Spmg Conko[ S&km Co flc2pk Taguchl Exp@timenk ,_*_,

L.-J
?.wnd

on Cam Cok9r

Pmlotyp d

u
Devebp Robust Manuf. Prams

Figure 1- Project Activity Structure and Flowchart

SYNTHESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

Issue: 1

August f 996

NON-CONFIDENTIAL

has generated a control algorithm which can be used to provide the necessary negative feedback control to the coiling tip control system.
Spring coiling closed loop control systems

most importantly, be able to work on-line. A CCD camera system was chosen at an early stage as the most suitable sensor device for this project brief. lPA Fraunhofer utilised their experience in this field to specify and develop a camera system capable of meeting the projed requirements. The I PA system was bench tes%d in Germany which generated excelent accura:=y of measurements but slow processing times, Considerable time and effort was s~ent in developing a faster system whilst remaining wi%in the required unit cost of around S1 0,000. The IPA development work concluded that the technology to speed up the response times was available now but a! a greater cost than the El 0,000 target price. However, =S the overall spring coiling process system is to correct age%t gradual drifts rather than to correct on a spring by spring basis, it is felt that the slower processing times are acceptable for the vast majority of likely applications in the spring manufi~c;iuring industr>. [f these few exceptions warrant We further investment then the basic system developed within this project can be suitably upgraded. Connection of the camera control system to Peras coiling head control system as an acti~!ty does not require the development of any new technology, merely that suitable software drivsr interfaces need to be written, which is outside ;:e scope of this project and a matter for incorporation into a final engineered solution on,ce the eventual type of PC or industrial compute; and software language have bee.1 decided upon.
Spring manufacturing process experimen*-

The definition of a closed-loop control system is one in which the control action is somehow dependent on the actual response obtained from the system. Feedback is the property of a closedIoop system which permits the control output to be compared with the input to the system so that the appropriate control action may be formed as some function of the output and input. In the case of the fixed coiling tip spring coiling process the control system input would be the movement of the actualcoiling tips and the output being the size and form of the actual spring produced. This current control is an example of an open loop control system. For the actuated spring coiling process to be a closed loop control system the control input would be the control voltage applied to the coiling head assemblies and the output would be the size and form of the actual spring produced. The control feedback would be provided by the on-line camera system which would supply actual spring parameter measurements to the actuated coiling head assemblys control system which would establish and supply, with the help of a control algorithm, the required corrective (or othen.vise) control input to the coiling head. Within the project a closed loop control system has been developed and demonstrated, This system can now be incorporated into current CNC machine controllers or developed for use as a dedicated retrofitable actuated coiling head kit and PC driven control system to upgrade ageing mechanical cam toilers.
Parametric on-line measurement of springs by cameras

During the project a number of different measurement techniques were evaluated for possible use as the means to provide the control feedback signal that would be required to realise a self-compensating spring coiling process. The measurement device or technique had to be compact, robust, durable, reliable, accurate, fast, cheap, have a wide measurement range and

The early part of the project dealt in consider-.%e detail with the actual state of the ati for sprin~ manufacture, the understanding of the manufacturing process. Subsequently a considerable amount of analysis work was undertaken to attempt to optimiss these processes theoretically. [t was determined thzt an experimental approach was requled to understand the effect of the different parts of the process on the quality of the spfing produced. The analysis technique chosen was Taguchi, which is an analysis method involving the des;gn of experiments that are technological rather than theoretical, concerned with proclulctivity and csst effectiveness rather than statistic=! rigour.

SYNTHESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

Issue: 1

August i 393

NON-CONFIDENTIAL

One of the projects members, had already undertaken some Taguchi analysis of its own processes, and therefore provided the project with a good input in the necessary approach to adopt. Together with SRAMA, the objective was to develop the necessary experiments based on the perceived most critical aspects of the spring manufacturing process. These experiments would be used to optimise the generic coiling process. Within the project a number of industrial members felt that wire quality was one of the main causes of coiling related failures of spring coiling machines. Variations in the wire dramatically affect bed spring coiling for example. It was thought that varying wire diameter and ovality may be one of the principal causes, and should be measurable with the machine being on line. Pera developed an experiment to measure the wire diameter and ovality on-line to see if any correlation between varying wire parameters and machine stoppages could be established. A laser measurement gauge was used to measure the wire just prior to coiling. These tests were performed during September 1995.
TECHNICAL DESCRIPTION Development of the First prototype design of coiling head ( see plate 1 )

* *

actuator [egs, servo or hydraulic drive=.

Gimbal - where there aie two ptatfomis,

one rotating within the other. Manual - comprising of the replacement of the normal grub screw adjustment with a precision vernier adjustment, wher~ %e positional readings are noted in order aid set up.

The concepts all provided a bask for develo~i:g a working design, However analysis of existing coiling tip adjustments using traditiana! mechanical adjustment led to the f%t prototype design which aimed to provide the replication of this existing movement. The design uses a pivot axis onto which is mounted the coiling tip tool holde~. This holder is able to provide in-line rotation for the tool itself, and two further perpendicular planes of movement. A photographic plate ( plate 1 )of iii~ first development prototype is included at the rear of this report, This solution uses three identical hydraulic cylinders mounted in a rigid assembly capable of being retrofitted onto existing Cam Coi!er machines. The purpose of using an existing mechanical machine is to develop the understanding of the actual movements requird to achieve the correct coiling and sexmdly te establish a basis whereby the dwdoped technology could in part be retrofitted mto existing non-CNC machines. Only one of the coiling tips was automated as this would show whether the design principle would work. This prototype coiling head and tip assembly was designed to replace the first coiiin~ tip on a conventions! cam toiler in order to gain information about the relationship between the coiling tip movement and the ccwesponding effect on the coiled spring that is produosd as a re@ of this motion. Once this relationship had been defined, the closed loop control of the coiling iip and springs produced could be made possibie. Technical irrnoviation of the firs; ,o.mtofype cdrrg head assemb/y The main technological advancement of the design is the incorporation of miniature hydr=tilic cylinders and positional measu%ment contr:l via LVDT% ( iinear variable displac.e,nent

Several concepts were theoretically evaluated to determine their suitability for providing the necessary positional movement and accuracy and the force required to bend the wire into a helix. The project had already determined that the demonstrator should be capable of coiling wire up to 2mm in diameter. Theoretical calculation showed that the approximate force required to bend this wire would be 800N. This was confirmed when a simple experiment on a sample of wire was made using a three point bending arrangement, yielding a figure of between 800 and 900N. A number of design concepts were considered, namely :* Hexapod - comprising of six linear actuator legs which are servo driven with the coiling tip sitting centrally on a platform supported by these legs. Tripod - comprising of three linear

SYNTHESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93,890

Issue: 1

August 1995

NON-CONFIDENTIAL transducers). Hydraulic cylinders were used to provide the necessary high forces and stability for coiling, however due to the size constraint, there were no standard cylinders available on the market, and therefore a specific design was developed for this exercise by a specialist hydraulic manufacturer. The design of the cylinders and associated hydraulic system proved difficult as the small physical size of the cylinder blocks dictated that all the associated hydraulic system components were similarly size matched. The systems hydraulic control schematic is given in figure 2. The main components required being:Semo Actuator Linear Variable Displacement Transducer Servo Valve Servo Valve Controller Card Position Conditioning Card Electronic Rack Hydraulic power pack Distribution manifold and hoses
Second prototype coiling head ( see plate 2>

It was established as a result of the first prototype coiling head tests (which are disc~ssed later), that further detailed tests and analysis would be required with both coiling tips replaced by actuated coiling heads of a revised design be%re the relationship between the coihng tips motic= and the actual springs produced rc=n be established (ie the coiling contrcd algorithm}. This requirement lead to the developr?ient of a semnd prototype coiling head assembly. The second prototype coiling head is very much a development of the basic mechanism of the first prototype. It utilised the three cyiiriders and LVDTS that were fitted to the first prototype tc reduce the cost to the project of ik development. However an additional three cylinders and associated hydraulic and electronic components were needed as there are two actuated assemblies, one for Coiling Tip 1 .md the other for Tip 2. The second design had to be a rrwre compact one, in that it occupies a small Ycdprint on ~fi= machine base plate. One of the actuators location and mechanism had to be moved from protruding out the side of the unit, to being siacked at tine bottom of another actuator, in order for the cci!ing heads to not foul the cam toiler rotating cams. and cam follower mechanisms. Considerable effort was required t~ ensure that the hydraulic cylinder inlet and outlet ports wiiere suitably positioned so as again, n & to foul with the cam toilers rotating cam acd cutter. It w=: decided in order to save space the final run of hydraulic hose to each oil port in tie cylinders would be hard piped using smail be-e stainless steel tubing and double ferrule compression fittings. This arrangement worked very well =Hd helped reduce the require space envelope on the host machine. Spring Coiling Control System

l=
-

- Hydraulic servo

1-
Electrical connection Hydraulic connection

Fluid reserfoir

Figure 2- Hydraulic Control Schematic Fortunately the aerospace industry had a specialised semovalve which was suitable to control the cylinders which the system was developed around, all other iterns ( except the hydraulic power pack ) were specially designed equipment, including the hydraulic fittings. The definition of a closed-loop control syster is one in which the control action is somehow dependent on the actual response obtained frcm the system. Feedback is the prspa~ of a clnsedIoop system which permits the control output to be compared with the input to the system so that the appropriate control action may be forme? as

SYNTI+ESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

Issue: 1

August 1993

NON-CONFIDENTIAL

some function of the output and input. In the case of the fixed coiling tip spring coiling process the control system input would be the movement of the actual coiling tips and the output would be the size and form of the actual spring produced. For the actuated coiling head assembly the units control is a closed loop system with a control input from the control voltage to the hydraulic servovalve (see figure 2) and the output is the actual movement of the hydraulic cylinder and hence coiling tip via the coiling head mechanism. The control feedback is provided by the LVDT which yields the actual position the cylinder has moved to. For the actuated spring coiling process to be a closed loop control system the control input would be the coiling head assemblies control voltage and the output would be the size and form of the actual spring produced. The control feedback would be provided by the on-line camera system which would supply actual spring parameter measurements to the actuated coiling head assemblies control system which would establish and supply, with the help of a control algorithm, the required corrective (or otherwise) control input to the coiling head assemblies.

PC (Personal Computer, IBM clorm) provided the starting point for this. The camera system used a PC based image processing system. The other aspects require+ were:outputs to control the manipulation of the coiling points links to the existing CNC cccmtml systems interpretation of measurement data
user interface

The chosen route within this project was to us= a top level PC based programme called LabVi==.:+ from National Instruments. This is capable of providing the external links, graphical interfac= and data processing.

Image Processing

II
\

Data Manipulation 1 1 ,

m c COMOI

!1

Col[ ng

Po[nl

t4anlpulat10n

Figure 3- Control sys%am linking Corftroi System Overview CNC spring machine control

The control system has to fulfill the following criteria:generate the machine coiling tip set up positions modify the coiling tip set up in real time based on feedback from the spring measurement provide graphical/numerical instructions for set up The projects hard deliverable was a technology demonstrator unit showing that automatic set up and real time adjustment can be achieved. From this base, the spring industry will be able to quickly and easily move to a fully engineered and integrated solution. As is common with many of todays industrial control applications the use of a

The final technology demonstr=to has implemented the technology on an existing cam toiler machine. As the control of 7WO of the spring coiling machines functiors are already present in state of the art CNC machines, th~ project has not replicated this. It is anticipated ?hat the CNC aspect will be mainly used as part nflhe coarse set up of the machine. The opi?rator vA! as normal enter the parameters of the spring, E=: via the PC interface. The appropriate links into tiw CNC control will need to addressed in the fuiiy engineered solution by the machine builders within the consortium.
Camera image Processing

This aspect is straight forward frwn a contro! pint of view as the image processing is conductec! by an embedded card within the PC. This card

SYNTHESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93,890

Issue: 1

August 19%

NON-CONFIDENTIAL

passes the necessary information to the main programme to act on. Data on the spring parameters can be input via the user interface and downloaded to the image processor. It is anticipated that this data will be spring freelength, outside diameter and pitch, or the camera system could record a perfect spring for comparison against the subsequently manufactured springs. Camera Data Manipulation The data received from the camera needs to be acted upon to maintain the spring within tolerance. The action may simply be recording of the data and the update of an SPC chart, but the main issue is for the real time control of the coiling tips in reaction to the spring going out of tolerance. The developed control algorithm enables this function to be realised. This algorithm yields the firm control rules for the spring coiling process. Alternatively a learning approach may be adopted in a fully engineered solution. Work has been carried out by MIT GmbH into the integration of Fuzzy Logic and Neural Networks in LabView ( ref 1 ). This work provided an opportunity to integrate the Neural Network approach into the developed LabView application. Neural Networks are able to learn, adapt to changes, and can mimic human thought process with little human intervention, They were defined by Kohonen ( ref 2 ) as massively parallel interconnected networks of simple (usually adaptive) elements and their hierarchical organisations which are intended to interact with objects of the real world in the same way as biological nervous systems do. However as result of the prototype coiling head trials, the spring coiling process was demonstrated to be a much more predictable process than was first envisaged, which negated the need to use Neural Networks for the control of the process. Coiling Tip Manipulation This is a relatively straight forward operation, as the hydraulics have positional control electronics as part of the system. The overall control system programme determines the new position that the coiling points are required to be at, and then from the developed control algorithm a control voltage is output to the positional controller which then moves the hydraulic cylinder accordingly via the servovalve. The primary purpose of the real time movement is

to provide adjustment to compensate for proc~=s changes that are causing the ma ~ufactured springs to drift out of the required manufacturing tolerance. However, the coiling tips actually developed have enough movement to be use< to affect the shape of the spring requked. This adjustment is then fulfilling two furrctions, firstiy to generate the spring shape, and secondly to compensate for material or process variations. Possibly the most important benefii that the control system imparts on the entire machine is the ability of the coiling tips to repeatedly and accurately return to a given set-up position. Hence, a database of spring design set-up parameters can be stored on the PC and on discs, This will enable the actuaied coiling tips to be almost instantaneously driven to the requ[--d set-up positions for a given spring design. To facilitate this, the actual coiling tip tools used have to be modified to be positively located within the tool holder by for example, bayonet fitting m dowelling against a register slot%ace etc. This small modification does not represent any technical or economic disadvankge, and a fuiiy engineered solution could easily ~ncktde this in its design.
Parametric Measurement Of Spring and Camera System Development

The listings below present an ovewiew of the potential sensing techniques ava lzbie :Sensor Principle Parameter (Resolution)

CCD Camera diameter, length, sh=~e, quality (5vm, cycle time 75ms) Laser scanner Inductive sensor Light Barrier diameter, bending of wire diameter (0,0 - 0.6mm) diameter {Up to 0.1 mm]

Laser displacement diameter (1 O~m, range 60- 140mni)

Trials were undertaken using these techniques. The results from the laser sensors were poor due to the following problems; fluctuations in measurerm?nt due to the varying position of the spring difficulty of focusing on the correct p=int of the saddle of the spring form difficulty differentiating between coil surface and free space between coils The results from the inductive gauging trials %:ere

SYNTHESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

issue: 1

August 1 SS6

NON-CONFIDENTIAL

also not satisfactory for the required use. The inductive sensor would produce unstable readings when the spring was rotated. This is a problem of focusing where the sensor detects different parts of the spring surface. An additional problem with the inductive sensor is that for accurate linear measurement the detection area must be entirely covered by the target. This would present difficulties when there is a large variation in the size of spring manufactured, and also the smallest diameter sensor is 8 mm and this would be unsuitable for wire diameters of 2mm, The final measurement system was therefore selected as the CCD Camera system.
CCD Camera Development

Contrast requirements between the spring and the image background were investigated, a lighter background helping the imaging process. [t was realised that in practise a light background wouicd not easily be maintained in the generaJiy dirty coiling tip area, as debris for the ra$+ material wire and its coatings generally blackened most surfaces. IPA Fraunhofer therefcre used wide= images from a spring CNC toiler io analyse mm;e industrially realistic spring images. Another question raised by the consortium related to debris present in the coiling process. A provisional suggestion has been ta provide a compressed air curtain across tbe lens. How=;ar IPA Fraunhofer do not believe that this will be necessary based on their previous experienc~, and that simple maintenance procedures for cleaning, perhaps only once per week, will prow sufficient. This system total price of f6500 was w+e!l within the budget set ( <El 0,000) and ha been demonstrated by iPA to give the fo!lowing performance:* Speed of Measurement: * Accuracy on Freelength: Accuracy on Outside Dia: Accuracy on Pitch:
q

The potential for the use of a CCD (Charge Coupled Device) solid state integrated circuit camera is significant in that it potentially provides a low cost front end unit capable of recording a large variety of shapes and therefore covering all types of springs. This coupled with the ability to measure at high speed provides a system potentially small enough to be mounted near the coiling area, and of sufficient speed to measure each spring as it is being manufactured. The CCD camera system relies heavily on the processing power that will interpret the image and therefore a cost effective solution needed to be determined for this part of the system. The potential disadvantages of the camera system are the influence of debris generated by the coiling process interfering with the image, and with the limited amount of space available, the ability of the camera to clearly see the spring. The chosen solution, which fits the actual situation, is where one point is fixed, and that is at the point where the spring is cut off, From that datum point, the image can be analysed to determine where the rest of the spring is located. The image can then be compared against the stored ideal, or actual measurements made of diameter length and pitch and these compared against the table of requirements. As the analysis develops, and depending on the spring shape being manufactured, it maybe possible to analyse only a small section of the spring as this will provide sufficient information to understand whether the spring is within tolerance. For example, by measuring the first couple of turns, and the overall length and diameter could be confirmed, and the pitch is inferred to be correct. This reduces the image processing required and therefore speeds up the rate at which springs can be measured.

1.8 seconds <3.5 mm et~,~ mm <0.5 mm

[n terms of robustness, the camera housing can be made sufficiently strong to withstand the normal manufacturing requirement. The protection of the Iens could be provided by tb use of a toughened glass window, which could easily be replaced if damage occurred. If the speed of spring measuremerrt of the abcve camera system is insufficient for a particular application then the processing power needs % be upgraded. The two hardware solutions are PC based systems capable of being instatieci in standard units with the necessa~ spare expansion slots. As part of the post project development the sofi;;=re would probably need to be written in C based code, and the necessary compiler and library routines adds approximately E4,UQ0. Coiling Process Optimisation
Wire Measurement Experimes@

The spring industry felt that wire qtiality was one of the main causes of coiling related failures =f spring coiling machines. For example, variations in the wire dramatically affect bed spring m=z?rine

SYNTHESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

Issue: 1

August 1996

NON-CONFIDENTIAL production. It was felt that varying wire diameter and ovality may be one of the principal causes, and should be measurable with the machine being on line. Pera developed an experiment to measure the wire diameter and ovality on-line to see if any correlation between varying wire parameters and machine stoppages could be established. The test equipment consisted of the following items:Laser gauge and height stand Mounting bracket for the Laser gauge Computer and monitor to run the data capture software LabView data capture software D to A and A to D cards Light sensor assernbiy Various leads/cables and connectors The laser gauge was located prior to the host machines coiling head on the mounting bracket. The wire to be coiled into bed springs passes freely through the centre of the gauge. The Beta gauge was connected to a computer which provides the means of capturing the gauges outputted X-axis and Y-axis diameter with time. On the PC, a LabView software programme provided the means of controlling the data from the gauge to be logged. The logged data was stored on the computers hard disk. The logged data was formatted and analysed by Pera at Melton at a later date. [n order to record when the host machine had stopped, a light sensor was attached to the machines warning light. The sensor provided a simple O or 1 reading (O-machine running, 1machine stopped) which could be logged for the captured readings. The data capture programme was set to log two sets of readings from the laser gauge every second. As the host machine was producing 75 springs a minute (of wire length 41 inches) or 1.3 metres/second, at least two readings per spring produced were logged. The machine was coiling 2.20mm diameter, phosphate coated steel wire, tensile range 15501700 N/sq.mm, BS 4637:1970, with a tolerance on the diameter of +0.00 mm/-O. O3mm. On first setting the laser gauge, the x-diameter was measured to be 2,19mm and the y-diameter to be 2.18mm, ie the wire had an ovality of approximately 0.01 mm on diameter. Pera analysed the logged laser gauge readings using QuattroPro for Windows spreadsheets to graphically plot the readings. A graph was produced for each file (15 minutes of captured data) and the machine runningktcw~ed reading was modified to plot a binary on;cff signal, ie = blip indicates that the host machine had stopped. Inspection of the graphs has not yidded any predictable correlation between the results and the host machine stoppages. However, there appears to be one irend that may be identifiable with machine stoppages, but confirmation woti!d be required by further tests. This trend is that there are a number of host machine failures that occur after the wire diameter has been creeping: up or down. No creeping up or down trends are observed during periods of satisfactory host machine operation. The conclusions that can be made from this experiment are that wire for the host machine should coil well if the ovality varies by about 0.01 mm on diameter, and if the diameter varies between +/- O,Olmm based on a reference der diameter of 2.20mrn. W4ire that exhibits trends of increasing or decreasing wire diameter may present coiling difficulties. The wire used for the majority d these tests was supplied to the user outside their mder specification, which is significant as it equates to a loss in their production yield of about 4%. Wke is purchased by weig ht but prod ucticm yield is based on the length for a given reel weight. A 40,4 lass of yield has a large effect on the rmrgins that this sector of the spring industry operaie under.
Taguchi Experiments

The early part of the project dealt in considerable detail with the actual state of the art for spring manufacture, the understanding of the manufacturing process and subsequently a considerable amount of analysis work was undertaken to attempt to optimise these processes theoretically. H was determined that an experimental approach was required to understand the effect of the different parts of the process on the quality of the spring produced.

SYNTHESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

Issue: 1

August f W6

NON-CONFIDENTIAL accomplished is to determine the effect each factor has on the overall outcome Gf each experiment. This is known as the Signal to Nciss Ratio (S/N ratio dB). As the signal strength rises compared to the noise strength the variability of the process is reduced thus allowing greater quality levels to be achieved. Once the results have been analysed a predicticm has to be made and confirmatory tests undertaken to show that the mathematical prediction is valid. This is importarit as this can he used to predict the best and worst cases with the given parameters or factors. The results show that the critical or major fackrs are Number of rollers and Pay off method as they have the largest SIN ratio variations.The resuits also show that the Orientation, Cleanliness, and Roller height factors are considered to be non major influences in variances. The Taguchi mode! predicted tkzt a WN ratic ef 20.29 +/-7.9 dB was possible from the given factors. The confirmation prediction tried to optimise the process to the optimum of 28.1 Q2S. After the confirmatory tests the results were analysed and yielded a value of 26,3 cB. hence the process had been optimised from 19.7 to 26.3dB a reduction in variability of 75%.
conclusions

The analysis technique chosen was Taguchi, which is an analysis method involving the design of experiments that are technological rather than theoretical, concerned with productivity and cost effectiveness rather than statistical rigour. The following list of variables were determined as being the most critical, and the different values that were used to evaluate their significance on the process:* * * * * Factor 1- Material Orientation - Four levels changing every 90 degrees Factor 2- Cleanliness - either as purchased or de-greased Factor 3- Number of straightener rollers 5or7 Factor 4- Roller height - providing either guidance or deformation Factor 5- Pay off - This is to be powered or unpowered

A noise factor was generated by the use of two different material batches. Some 16 separate experiments were designed and performed by SRAMA instead of the 120 that would have been required for a full factorial set of experiments to cover the 5 factors. Furthermore the Taguchi approach means that the effect of a 6th factor namely the noise factor (two wire batches) can also be considered. The key to a successful Taguchi analysis is the selection of the quality parameter that is to be a measure of the output of the experiment. The quality parameter should ideally be the property that is to be optimised but it should also be easily measurable. If this can not be measured in practise then another quality factor should be selected. In the case of this Taguchi experiment the consortium wished to optimise the boilability of the process. A year ago it would not have been possible to use this as the quality measure as until now there has been no accurate means of measuring wire boilability. Fortunately for the project SRAMA have separately developed a coiling test which combines coil measuring and CHAOS techniques to accurately identify the material under tests potential coiling performance. This test equipment was hence used as the quality measure for these tests. The object of the tests were to ascertain which factors influence the variability of the wires boilability, The manner in which this is

These experiments have identified several fa.ctms that influence the robustness of the coiling process. it is now possible to use these to reduce the influence that the wire/matetiai variations %ve on the spring coiling process. RESULTS

Firstprototype Coiling Head Test Results

As previously stated the first prototype coiling head utilises hydraulic motive power and state af the art hydraulic servovalve control systems to move and control a conventional coiling tip tml[. Pera, bench tested the coiling head and associated equipment during sephmrber 19Q5 and subsequently fitted the assembly to a mechanical Cam Coiler host machine as a direct replacement to the first fixed coilirig tip. A se:ss of tests were performed which were designed to gain suficient data to enable the relationship or controlling algorithm between tk coiling tip movement and springs produced to be

SYNTHESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

10

Issue: 1

August 59S6

NON-CONFIDENTIAL established. The specific objectives of these industrial trials were:To demonstrate that the hydraulic actuated coiling tip was robust enough to withstand the forces associated with coiling 2mm diameter wire (ie forces up to 900N) and remain stable when in use To demonstrate that the coiling tip can be moved (and later controlled] whilst the host machine is coiling springs To gather test data which will describe the relationship behveen the movement of the coiling tip and its measured effect on the actual spring produced by the host machine To demonstrate that the coiling tip positional control system can repeatedly and accurately return the coiling tip to a specified set-up position The tests centred around coiling springs to a reference design. With the Cam Coiler previously been set up with the traditional tooiing to produce a batch of reference springs that were used for comparison purposes as a bench mark. Peras bench testing activity had demonstrated that the hydraulic cylinder and LVDT control combination was capable of positioning the cylinder rod end to within +/- O.Olmm ( 0.0005} and correspondingly the coiling tip very accurately as a function of the mechanical advantage ratios of the coiling head mechanism. The coi[ing head hydraulic power packs initial operating pressure was 500psi. Initial testing of the hydraulic coiling head showed all 3 motions to be very stable whilst coiling. The three coiling head motions were defined as:Motion 1 Coiling Tip Extend ( varies spring diameter). Motion 2 Coiling Tip Tilt ( varies spring pitch/shape). Motion 3 Coiling Tip Rotate (varies spring pitch). The wire feed speed of the host cam toiler machine was 22.2 metretimin (derived from the spring production rate of 60/min). Setthg the Cam Coiler to produce r.%kwence springs after the coiling head instal!atirm took approximately 1 hour. This was acbiewd by the Coiier giving verbal instructions to t% Control System Operator, This demonstrated that a closed-loop control system was a very real possibility. The limit of movement was established for each motion in turn. The tips were then moved using the control system within this range in plot the relationship behveen the coiling tip motion and tine actual spring produced free length and C3D. The springs that were produced wiwe measured the next day cold with respect to fr~e length and outside diameter. When plotted the results showed that the following almost [in=ar relationship ( graph 1 ) existed between the motion of the coiling tip and springs parameter%

Graph 1- First Prototype Coilng Head Test= Variation of Extend motion plotki against measured Spring OD

;+?4

CH4 Relative ConM Vol/age [w

+ CHI-O.2V -S CH142.lV -@- C H 1 OV -+- C+1 O.l V + G+ 0.2Y + CH1 D.3V

Graph 2- 2nd Prototype Coiling Mead Tests Variation of Coiling Tips l&2 Ex3end motions plotted against measw=d Spring KN3

SYNTHESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

11

issue: f

Augusi 19:5

NON-CONFIDENTIAL These industrial trials showed that the coiling process is more predictable than was first envisaged with the graphs of the control voltage against OD and Free Length showing consistent, repeatable and linear relationships over smaller distances. The first prototype coiling head had excellent repeatability, yielding batches of reference springs as below when ever the control voltages were set to the set-up values:Spring measured parameters - mean values Batch ret Free length OD (mm) 22.20

cylinders when under load. Under this higher system pressure both coiling tips proved to be very stable and rigid during coiling The results of the second prototype :rials she:-.-ed once more that the coiling process was predictable, consistent, and rep==table havin; to all intents and purposes linear rcl =tionships CIVET smaller distances or movements ss can be s=sn by graph 2. The second prototype coiling head when trialed demonstrated excellent repeatability, yieldin~ batches of reference springs as Mow, whenever the control voltages were set to the set-up values:Spring measured parameters - mean value: Batch refi Ref Spring FIL (mm) 42.97 OD (mm) 22.16 hk.cuils 5.80 Pitt> (mm) 1 OF-5

42,98 mm Ref Spring (Without coil head fitted) First Proto +/-0,1 2mm

+/-O,O7mm

For comparison purposes the appropriate British Standard for industrial springs BS 1726: PT 1: 1987 for a spring of the reference design yields acceptable tolerances of +/-O.9mm on spring free length and +/- 0.3mm on spring outside diameter. The second fixed tip was however observed to impart a correcting influence when moving the first coiling tip by larger amounts. It was also established that to gain a better understanding of the effect that the coiling tips were having on spring production, more spring parameters shouid be measured. Therefore, the following spring parameters were measured for 4 springs out of each batch:free length (42.97 mm) outside diameter (22.16 mm) effective pitch (10.56mm) no. of coils (5.80) As a result of these tests further detailed tests and analysis were required with both coiling tips replaced by actuated coiling heads of a revised design before the relationship between the coiling tips motion and the actual springs produced can be established ie the coiling control algorithm. This requirement led to the development and trialing of the second prototype coiling head assembly.

Second prototype coiling head generated reference springs Mean Max Min 44.67 45,73 42,83 22.58 22.93 22.20 5.69 580 .560 1 M< 11.5~2

10.32

Conclusions from the Coiling I-kad Development

First indications were that the positional accuracy and repeatability of the hydrauli; coiling head and control systems were very good which will significantly reduce set-up times and flexibility cf spring manufacture if an engineered coiling head design was to be available for retrm-fitting to existing cam toilers and incorpcmtion into current state of the art CNC coiling matchines. The spring coiling control algorithm although predictable, consistent, and repeatable is complex and it would be unwise to try ar+ predict a generic control algorithm of coiling frorm :he study of cme reference spring design and wi, e size. What these tests have shown is that spring coiling can be predicted for a spring design by experiments-an for a given coiling tip and holder geometry. Clearly though, this is of limited commercial value to the spring making industry. What is more important is the fact that an understanding of the effect of moving each of the coiling tips in relation to each other has been gained and can be used to generate a contmi guideline algorithm which, in combination witin actuated coiling tips and a negative feed-back quality monitoring device such as an on-line camera system, can now be used to make the

Second Prototype Coiling Head Test Results

The hydraulic system pressure had to be increased again from 600 psig to 700 psig in order to move both coiling heads set of three hydraulic

SYNTHESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

12

Issue: 1

August 1996

NON-CONFIDENTIAL spring coiling process reactive and self compensating. Furthermore, the second prototype has demonstrated that the actuation technology to do so is now available for commercial exploitation. system including the camera imaging to be located on a single PC, reducing Iccst and complexity. The feedback measurement system was determined as being a camera imeging system. Much effort was expended to develop the ane!ysis of the images captured to determine the three critical parameters of a spring, these being the free length, the outside diameter and the pitch. This system was developed and trialled in the laborato~ environment and also by using digital images taken from a real coiling machine. The final trials of the linked system to the manipulation of the coiling tips was due to be ccxnpleted just after the official conclusion of the project. However the technology developed for this measurement process is far in advance of any existing technology and is to be taken up by one of the machine builders in particakr. The Taguchi analysis of the coiling process yielded the major factors that influence coilirtg variability as being the amount of straightening applied to the raw material, and the use of powered take off decoilers/swifts, The increase in the number of rollers indicated that straighter+g is beneficial to the coiling process whereas CCM work due to offset guides has a limited beneficial effect. The above factors which have been shown t~ have a beneficial effect on redut;ing coiling variations will undoubtedly have an effect wit I the standard spring coiling production process, however it has not been possible to quantify :i= exact effect, The Taguchi experiments have identified several factors that influence the robusmess of the c+ing process. It is now possible to use these to reduce the influence that the wire/mate;-ai variations have on the spring coiling process and as a consequence the optimum settings have be=: determined. As part of the exercise of understanding the influencing parameters on the c.:oiling process, a series of input wire measurement experiments were carried out at one of the prc>ject members. The conclusions from this determined the limits of wire ovality that the process COU15 tolerate and the rate of change of this parameter could provido an indication to the operator of impending problems. An additional fact that was apparent was that a significant amount of wire was su @ied to the industrial member outside of specification.

CONCLUSIONS
The project has been successful in independently

analysing the spring coiling process to a point where innovative technology has been developed and demonstrated that will enable new machines to be constructed and used within Europe, that give a technological advantage, and produce a better quality spring. The research has provided a variety of other outputs that have and will influence the spring coiling process to enhance the quality of production. The key elements of the technology produced are, the automatic real-time movement of the coiling tips, the on-line measurement of the produced springs and the basis for the control algorithm for the automated adjustment of the process to maintain output within tolerance. The coiling tests using the new actuated coiling tips showed that this process is more predictable than was first envisaged. The graphs of the data produced showed a repeatable and linear relationship over small distances. The trials indicated that the positional accuracy and repeatability of the hydraulic coiling head and control systems were very good which would help to significantly reduce set-up times and flexibility of spring manufacture. On the basis of the data gathered within the project, there is the opportunity to develop a simple proportional control algorithm, based on a decision matrix, which would provide a degree of in-process control over spring free length and outside diameter. The project has determined a basic decision matrix where the decision about a spring is based on the average of the spring dimensions of a pre-set number of springs. Further work and trials would be necessary both to determine whether this approach can cope with a wide range of spring sizes and wire compositions. This much more simplified control algorithm has removed the need for the use of new programming techniques involving neural networks. This provides a much more realistic platform for the consortium to further exploit the technology. The control system used was a PC based Windows programme enabling the whole

SYNTHESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

13

Issue: 1

August 1996

NON-CONFIDENTIAL However this fact was not able to encourage wire suppliers to monitor their output. At the end of the project much work has been undertaken and a considerable amount of data obtained on the spring coiling process. This will provide a sound basis for the industrial consortium either as individuals or groups to take the appropriate elements and enhance their own position, and to develop a productionised system capable of leading the world. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The project consortium would like to thank the CEC for the funding and generoas support that have been given to this important research project. REFERENCES 1) Kasper,C. Lieven,K. Wek@r, Dr R . MIT GmbH Integration of Fuzzy Logic and Neural Networks in Lab~iew, National Instruments European User Symposium November 10- 1~, 1994, Munich. Kohonen, T Self Organisation and Associated Memory, 3rd Edition, Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 7989

2)

SYNTHESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.89D

14

Issue: 1

August 19S%

NON<ONFIDENTIAL

. .

HA-r% 1- First Prototype coiling Head Assemkiy during Eknc?l -resm!g =$5J t%2FEi

PLATE 2- Second Prototype Coiling Head Assembly

SYNTHESIS REPORT CEC Contract: BRE2-CT93.890

15

Issue: 1

Augusi 7996