Pin Press Suggestion, Control Valve Assembly Preset Station
Four machines were updated with this modification at Delphi Thermal and Interior.
PROBLEM
Currently, station 6 (pre-set station) upper length encoder tooling pin is weak. Any wreck at this station causes the tooling pin to bend or break, which results in immediate downtime until the tooling pin is replaced. Wrecks are caused by oversized needles, undersized bodies, double-springs, etc. With the current design, replacement is required up to 3 times per week.
Each replacement requires a tool technician and electrician to re-calibrate; the procedure takes up to 2 hours, and this downtime requires approximately 3 additional overtime production colleagues to manually drop springs and needles, and preset the assemblies. The resulting bottleneck can shut down the CVA and Final Set Boards.
SOLUTION
The tooling pin is designed with the same dimensions as the bellows needle (6557661). As my drawing indicates, clearance around the pin is abundant, allowing the elimination of this necked-down area. The taper can be taken back to the overall diameter of the pin, making it many times stronger. The only essential critical dimensions of the tooling pin are diameter, length, and angle where the pin contacts the needle. A prototype of this design has been in use for over two months with no failure. The pre-set drive is current-limited, and the entire fixture is designed for press-fit forces, so no other breakage has or will occur. The new design is easier to make, and has virtually eliminated the need for many man hours of emergency production overtime.
