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Strahlen – Lackieren – Fördern – Innovative solutionst
Dear Readers,
New ideas and inventions are the
driving force of most economies. This
paraphrase from the famous economist
and Nobel prize winner, Robert Solow,
can also be applied to a medium-sized
company.

Surface preparation at Lufthansa Technik AG and
LMB with the new media blast robot ReCo-Blaster®

Only by continuous efforts in the further
development of its own products as well
as redesigning those products to make
them more efficient and economical can
a company sustain its long-term future.
Focussing efforts on the improvement of
a product will lead to deserved attention.
A dynamic atmosphere in innovative
companies attracts good employees.
Such an atmosphere motivates and
inspires employee participation.
Based on this company philosophy we
have enhanced our equipment over the
years. Our success has proved us right.
Many of our customers have benefited
from SLF’s surface treatment techno­
logy and have come to appreciate it.
An example is our media blast robot
ReCo-Blaster® that has already demonstrated its effectiveness.
The dark radiator technology “DARC”
(Dark Radiation Convection) developed
by us represents a revolution in the
enamelling process of powder coated
components. Even on work pieces with
different sheet metal thicknesses (from
3 to 100 mm) the powder is precisely
burned-in whilst maintaining a high
quality finish.
We believe the ability to maintain innovation over generations, and call upon
it again and again from our employees,
will lead to our company’s success and
business development in the long-term.

Issue 3 · 2012

Blastroom with media blast robot ReCo-Blaster®

I

n the course of regular checks, aircraft
landing gear is subject to crack detection. For this purpose they are completely
disassembled and the paint is removed by
blasting.
For this paint stripping process, SLF’s
blasting robot ReCo-Blaster® has recently
been commissioned at Lufthansa Technik
AG in Hamburg.
Previously the landing gear components
were prepared by use of a manual blasting
cabinet.
During this process the operator stood
outside the cabin and fed the blast nozzle,
which was fixed to a lance with a length of
up to 2 m, through arm holes towards the

work piece, i.e. a laborious and exhausting
working process, especially for complex
work pieces.
The manual blasting cabinet is now obsolete!
Blasting of work pieces is now performed fully automatically by the ReCoBlaster® developed by us! The robot
not only replaces the laborious manual
operation, but also makes it possible to
reproduce the blasting process once it
has been programmed by means of the
“Teach-In-Mode”. Therefore, the ReCoBlaster® is an economically viable and
worthwhile investment, particularly for
parts treated in series.

The use of a twin-chamber pressure
blast pot allows continuous blasting without interruption. During the blasting process, blast pressure and media flow are automatically adjusted and controlled.
The ReCo-Blaster® fully automatically
blasts the outer surface of the work pieces
with a 19 mm sized blast nozzle. The inner
side is tackled with an up to 2.5 m long
blasting lance that can be attached to the
robot arm.
Eight axes ensure an optimal free movement of the robot. In order to minimize
wear on the robot, its shoulder and wrist
actuators, as well as the supply cable of
the robot arm, are integrated in the robot
housing. Double sealing protects the vertical axis against abrasive and dust.
Operation of the robot and programming of work piece parameters is performed by means of two joysticks. As the
joysticks are fixed to a moveable control
panel, programming of the robot movements (without abrasive) is possible inside
the blastroom or from outside via a viewing window.
Teaching from the outside can also be
performed during the running blasting
process. The robot control which is used
in connection with the joysticks allows for
very easy programming of the sequence of
movements.

Foto: Daniel Morsey

Robot arm

Compared to a conventional multiaxis control, the operator does not have
to control the movement of the indivi­
dual axes, but only the shifting and position of the blast nozzle in relation to the
work piece.
Another example is at a large steel
component preparation company Logaer
Maschinenbau GmbH in Leer, Germany
where a ReCo-Blaster® will soon be used for
blasting prior to the paint spraying process.
By acquiring a ReCo-Blaster® our customers have taken into consideration all
aspects of profitability, ergonomics and
automation with an optimal occupatio­
nal health and safety aspect. The result is
a consistent, reproducible blasting quality
due to the automatic control of the variable
parameters.

Fritz Gaidies and Michael Bahlinghorst

For this reason, after the retirement of
our former managing partner HeinzGeorg Vollmer, the technical responsibility of our company was transferred
to Mr. Michael Bahlinghorst. He has
worked in a leading position in our
company for many years and since
the beginning of this year has become
a member of the management partner
team. Together with the managing partner Fritz Gaidies he now controls the
affairs of our company.
Best Regards

Exterior view of a blastroom with ReCo-Blaster®
Fritz Gaidies

Michael Bahlinghorst