Automated production cell brings 24/7 manufacturing capability to wheelbarrow manufacturing

The engineering design consultancy Ingenium Integration has developed a multifunction automated production cell for H & E Knowles, the UK-based wheelbarrow manufacturer. The innovative cell will speed the production of wheelbarrow full and part frames by eliminating many labour-intensive aspects of production. It is scheduled to be commissioned in Q2 2016. According to Dave Ashworth, Ingenium Integration’s MD, “We have developed automated production cells for a number of production processes involving tube bending. The system under construction is the most integrated system we have designed to date – fully automating most of the stages of wheelbarrow frame production, including tube bending, hole punching, swaging and cut-to-length – and is designed for unattended 24/7 operation.” Ingenium Integration bases many of its automated production cell designs around all-electric tube benders from Unison – its parent company. In this instance, the system being built for H & E Knowles is a 38 mm (1.5-inch) twin head model from Unison’s all-electric Breeze range. It features a left and right head on the same carriage that facilitates precision symmetrical bending to reduce cycle times with an off-set facility to enable asymmetrical bending of the final tight bend at the wheel end of wheelbarrow frames, while avoiding collision with machine architecture during the process.