ST. LOUIS, 19 Oct. 2012. A commercial aircraft manufacturer needed a solution to the challenge of building and assembling large, all-compositesubassembly designs. The commercial aircraft maker found its solution at Cynergy Ergonomics in St. Louis.
Cynergy Ergonomics engineers installed a custom lifting system to help lift, rotate, and reposition five separate commercial aircraft fuselage panels of varying size, weight, and geometry. The panels, weighing up to 2,500 pounds each, are lifted and rotated either 90 degrees or 180 degrees before being placed into dunnage, a storage pogo, or the final assembly fixture.
The panels vary in length, from 35 feet to 70 feet, as well as in shape and contour. Panel weights range from 750 pounds to 2,500 pounds. Each panel has unique features, such as windows and door cutouts. A single manipulator system was required to handle each of the different panels.
A below-the-hook vacuum lifter was designed to be supported from the existing overhead crane system. Using the radio control, a single operator can attach to each different panel, lift it from the transportation vehicle, rotate either 90 or 180 degrees, and place in the dunnage, storage pogo, or into position during final assembly.
PLC logic activates the appropriate vacuum circuits for each panel type, while redundant safety features provide safe operation in the event of power or component failure. In the PLC-controlled system, a push-button activates individual vacuum circuits optimized for individual panel geometry.
Cynergy Ergonomics specializes in ergonomic material handling equipment such as lifts, articulating arm manipulators, sheet, panel and roll lifters, vacuum tube lifting, roll manipulators and material handling equipment.
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