The scope of this project: to design a Semi-Automatic Special Purpose Machine dedicated to installing bolts into steel brackets on condensers. The process involved a bolt feeder system, enabling the automatic feeding of bolts, while the brackets were manually loaded by a skilled operator onto the condenser.

The machine's design is a testament to meticulous engineering. It features a fixture created to precisely locate the condenser with the brackets for bolt installation. An operator skillfully positions the fixture and the brackets in the station, setting the stage for the process that follows.

One of the most remarkable aspects of this project is its versatility. The machine is designed to accommodate not one, but four different variants of condensers, spread across three distinct fixtures. This adaptability ensures that the machine can efficiently handle a wide range of products without the need for extensive reconfiguration.

The heart of this innovation lies in the XY slide unit, to which the nut runners are mounted. These nut runners are responsible for torquing the bolts, securely fastening the brackets to the condenser. It's a delicate ballet of precision and power, executed flawlessly by our machine

To streamline the process further, the machine incorporates a rotary indexer. This component enables the loading of two fixtures for the same product into the machine, enhancing overall efficiency. The operator plays a crucial role in the process, ensuring that the correct fixture is loaded for the product in production. The operation begins with the operator initiating the machine through the HMI (Human Machine Interface) screen. Once the sensors confirm the presence of the correct fixture, the rotary indexer deftly rotates 180 degrees for the first torquing operation.

The operator continues to load the condenser and steel bracket onto the fixture, and after the second fixture is loaded, the sensors verify the setup. This sets the stage for the main event: the feeding and torquing of the bolts. As the nut runners move along the XY slide to complete the torquing operation, the machine works in harmony with human expertise to achieve the desired result.

The road to success was not without its challenges. One of the most significant hurdles was designing the fixtures to accommodate different condensers on a single fixture, taking into account the often unforgiving tolerances of the condensers. This required precision engineering and a deep understanding of the manufacturing process.

"I would say that this project was very successful as the machine with extreme complexity was designed in 6 weeks and all the parts were manufactured in 8 weeks. Many of the manufactured parts had critical tolerances and all of them were within the specified tolerances. This project gave us the confidence that we can design and manufacture extremely complex machines with a lot of motions and get the machines to function as per the requirements."

- Aadithya Krishna Garimella, Senior Project Engineer

"In order to automatically feed bolts to the nutrunner unit for fastening the bracket to the condenser, we worked with experts from the global industry, as a collaborative result we successfully integrated the automatic bolt feeding unit into the design. The most challenging part for me was incorporating the ergo specs to the design because everything required to be an ergo zone (Operator reachability and carrying weights). To save weight and keep the fixtures in the ergo zone, I utilized aluminum jig plates for the fixture bases. Finally, I'm grateful to have delivered high-caliber equipment that succeeded client expectations and met with every safety requirement as per the customer"

- Satyanarayana Chary Medidi, Senior Design Engineer