Custom-made pneumatic controllers for the automotive industry

Reliable down to the last detail

The Sinsheim-based company Klaus Günther GmbH designs and constructs pneumatic components, cooling water supply units for welding cells in automotive body construction as well as advanced pneumatic logic controllers. The customers of the family owned company are primarily the builders of plants for the automotive industry. To meet the high standards of quality and reliability required by the automobile manufacturers, the company relies especially on connection components from Eisele.

Klaus Günther GmbH in Sinsheim has earned a reputation as a mid-sized specialist supplier of pneumatic assemblies, components and devices. The customer base primarily includes the automotive industry and the builders of automobile manufacturing plants. A special strength of the family owned company is the design and construction of pneumatic logic controllers. For use in automobile production these controllers must comply with the standards of the automobile manufacturers. Aside from compliance with standards, they also need to be optimised with respect to their construction and the components used. In this respect Günther can contribute decades of experience in order to achieve optimal form and function in top quality. In addition to the design and assembly of the pneumatic assemblies, machining and non-machining production processes are used to produce optimal project-dependent small batches for the plant builders. The result: ready-to-install controller modules.

Two companies – one focus

Due to the stringent quality philosophy, Günther GmbH relies on high-quality connection components and already has long-term business relations with Eisele Pneumatics GmbH & Co. KG in Waiblingen. The latter has decades of experience in the development and production of high-quality connecting components. With a broad product mix consisting of more than 5,000 catalogue articles and about 2,000 special customised solutions, the company stands for reliability and quality, as demonstrated by numerous technical details in all product areas. Eisele components are “Made in Germany”. The product spectrum ranges from catalogue products, e.g. for pneumatics or cooling water in applications such as paint processing or food production, to an extensive line of multiple connectors, which integrate very different single connections in one interface.

Optimal performance on the mounting plate

Recently Günther developed a compact, customised pneumatic circuit consisting of a manometer, a switching valve, a safety valve and check valve as well as a signal transducer.

For the reliable implementation of transition points, connections and couplings in such pneumatic controllers, plug-type hose connections such as those offered by Eisele as series 14 of the BasicLine have proven ideal. Diverse versions and technical details make it possible to implement virtually any type of connection. They are available for example as straight, angled, double or T-connections, and feature not only reliable leak-proof seals, but also application safety during installation and maintenance. An Eisele plug-type connection with a release sleeve is easy to disconnect even after extended use, without the risk of leaks. Under the harsh operating conditions and streamlined assembly processes in the automotive industry, this is especially important in order to allow smooth maintenance processes and fast replacement of the circuits. The release sleeve protects the collet inside the connection housing from impurities. In the BasicLine, the nickel-plated brass plug-type connections with a release sleeve and one or two seals is the right choice for many applications. Eisele is the only supplier of connection components to offer a version with a release sleeve. The pneumatic controller from Günther includes two straight and four angled threaded connections. In addition, two detachable double nipples are used: one, with 1/4 inch threads, connects the switching valve to the manometer and the other, with 1/2 inch threads, leads to the safety valve. The combination of manometer and check valve integrated in one distributor block was specially developed by Günther and is not available as a standard component in this compact and robust form.

Small detail with a big effect

Due to a convenient arrangement of the components on the mounting plate the controller needs only five centimetres of compressed air hose. In an installation used by the customer in the past for the same task, half a metre of hose was used for connections between the components, which resulted in a cluttered and error-prone arrangement.

But even short hoses have to be durable. That is why Günther uses the especially robust ProWeld hoses from Eisele. For its own hose brand Eisele uses only the high-quality polyurethane Elastollan. The hoses are externally calibrated, flame-retardant in accordance with UL 94 V2 to V0 and drag chain compatible. They are equally suitable for compressed air and cooling water and have a Shore hardness of 52 or 58 D, depending on the size. The tolerances for the wall thicknesses were kept to a minimum to guarantee a uniform wall thickness for constant pressure resistance. The hoses are available with outer diameters from 4 to 20 millimetres in black and, on request, also in other colours.

Reliable supply of robots

Welding robots for automotive body construction are dependent on the reliable supply of cooling water. For this task, Günther developed different versions of robot installation plates based on the specifications of the automobile manufacturers. The cooling water for the welding tongs of the robots is supplemented by a suction system on the robot installation plates. If the welding cap of the tong has to be replaced, the remaining water is removed from the system by means vacuum suction to ensure safe and dry replacement of the cap. In addition to the forward and return flow of the cooling water, such a supply unit also comprises two flow monitors with analysis electronics to control the inflow and outflow of the cooling water, detect leaks and ensure a reliable welded joint.

Numerous Eisele components of nickel-plated brass are again used for the vacuum component: the manometer for monitoring the pressure is connected by a reducer from 1/2 to 1/8 inch and several detachable double nipples and a screw plug are also mounted on the plate.

For the cooling water of the robot installation plate Eisele provides four push-in connectors with a release ring (straight and angled), a hose nozzle with a union nut, various double nipples and ProWeld hoses with 3/8 and 1/4 inch diameters. In addition, there are two coupling sleeves, connecting screws and double nipples made of brass, all from Eisele’s extensive line of accessories. Incidentally, the detachable double nipple is the result of an Eisele development and today finds widespread use as an indispensable standard component in many connection systems.

Full flow for optimal cooling

Coolant circuits place special requirements on the connections and lines used. They are used for dissipating heat from welding processes, which requires high flow rates in a compact space. Since the flow rates are decisive for the cooling effect, all connections of the Eisele LiquidLine have been optimised in this respect for closed fluid circuits. The connections are made of dezincification-resistant brass. This alloy was specially developed for closed cooling circuits requiring high corrosion protection, since cooling water generally is slightly acidic. With the LiquidLine, Eisele offers the most comprehensive line of components for this application.

Every seal performs reliably

Customers of Eisele include many manufacturers and suppliers from the automotive sector who require the reliability of all components in their processes, due to their quality obligations. If one were to add up the sealing surfaces resulting from the numerous Eisele components used in the robot installation plates, this would give an impression of the importance of these unassuming connection components. Each single seal must provide a reliable and permanent seal to prevent leaks and guarantee operational safety. This is where the high precision and vertical product diversification of Eisele come into play. It ensures that Günther and the automobile manufacturers who use Günther products can rely one hundred percent on quality components made in Germany.

BASICLINE