Air Bag Manufacturer Alleviates Safety Concerns with Pneumatic Safety Chuck
Double E had the pleasure of helping one of the world's leading manufacturers of automobile air bags with a safety concern they were having. The safety chucks on the customer's unwind stand are approximately seven feet above the factory floor. When the master roll is loaded or unloaded, workers were climbing up the machine to reach the safety chucks and/or using a mallet to open and close the safety chucks. The machine did not provide a catwalk to facilitate access to the safety chucks, creating an unsafe work environment.
Double E's solution to the customer's factory safety issue was to provide the AP/SM100/P0/IV40 and AP/SM100/ P1/IV40 pneumatic safety chucks. These safety chucks use air pressure to open and close the safety chucks, removing the need for workers to scale the machine each time the unwind roll was changed. To further enhance safety and ease of use, Double E's engineers designed these pneumatic safety chucks to communicate with the machine's automated controller. The safety chucks are button-activated at the machine's control panel. The pneumatic safety chucks use three proximity sensors. Indicator lights inform the operator whether the safety chucks are open or closed. In addition, Double E's engineers designed a "safety switch," so that the unwind stand will not operate when the safety chucks are opened or improperly oriented.
Double E's solution to the customer's plant safety concerns demonstrates the company's ability to improve existing machine designs. Double E's work to integrate the pneumatic safety chucks into the customer's existing automated system provided a direct, elegant solution that enhanced both plant safety and productivity. Double has since provided 29 pairs of these safety chucks to the customer.
