 |
||||
|
PADPRINT NOTEBOOK
Useful Tips & Information © 2007 ITW Trans Tech An Illinois Tool Works Company |
||||
 |
||||
Create User-Friendly, Easy-To-Load Fixture for Golfball Industry
NO SHAPE in the sporting goods industry is more common than the spherical golfball. Our customers padprint the ubiquitous white, dimpled orb by the millions each year. So what could be left to improve about how it is handled and held in a fixture?
We discovered an opportunity for improvement when a major sporting goods industry customer challenged our engineers to come up with an answer to that question recently.
CHALLENGE:
The customer was looking for an alternative to existing fixtures that were difficult to load and unload. Operators had been complaining of discomfort from forcing parts into older, spring-loaded but tight-fitting fixtures. The repetitive motion of pressing the ball with bent wrists resulted in a slow, painstaking process.
Our ergonomic goal was to create a fixture design that was easy to load and unload with only two fingers, without any applied pressure and without bending wrists. After understanding the problem from the operator's point of view, we set out to find a better way of holding the same old ball and yet increase productivity.
Fixture FAQs:
Q: What are ergonomics and how important are they in fixture design?
A: Ergonomics is the science of equipment design for the workplace, intended to maximize productivity by reducing operator fatigue and discomfort. A well-designed pad-printing fixture enables continuous use without injury to the operator while achieving production goals.
For more fixture FAQs, click here.
For more details on our custom-designed and built fixtures, click here, or feel free to contact us at: www.itwtranstech.com
For Tooling, Re-Tooling or Fixture information:
Retooling Supervisor:
Owen Ault
630.909.5777
ITW TRANS TECH An Illinois Tool Works Company
475 North Gary Avenue • Carol Stream, IL 60188-4900
Phone: 630.752.4000 • Fax: 630.752.4460
www.itwtranstech.com
Home | Consumables | Machines | Support | What's New | Specialty | Trade Shows| Contact Us
Site Map
© 2007 ITW Trans Tech • An Illinois Tool Works Company
 ASSIGNMENT: Build a Better Manual-Load Golfball Fixture SOLUTION: The features and customer benefits of the successful new holding fixture for golfballs include:  Convenient, ergonomic design enables loading by using only two fingers with no physical pressure, no bending of wrists, and helps attain the production goal of up to 30 printed parts per minute.  Permanent sighting-line notch enables visual centering of existing artwork when positioning the ball.  Fixture interior step-rings hold the ball in secure, non-rotating position during the printing cycle, ensuring proper color registration. Fixture is machined from aluminum then hardcoated for durability. Fixture can be mounted to our standard racetrack conveyor or carree in groups of ten to fourteen pallets for high-volume production and exact repeatability. OTHER USEFUL TOPICS: • Syringe Barrel Pad Printing: Adaptation & Innovation • Automation Case Study: 35mm Slide Mounts • Ergonomic Challenge: Build a Better, Manual-Load Golfball Fixture • Fixture FAQs: Practical Answers For Tooling, Re-Tooling or Fixture information: Retooling Supervisor: Owen Ault 630.909.5777 Contact Us |
|||