Problem solving case05

We aim to protect the vacuum pump—essential to the production line—from tar contamination.

HS Collector is a unique product developed based on problems encountered in the field.

PROPOSER

Product Promotion Department

Our main product, the vacuum pump, sometimes has foreign matter get inside the pump, which is a source of trouble for our customers. To solve this problem, we have developed and are selling our own unique product, the HS Collector.

BEGINNING

We propose vacuum pumps to various manufacturing sites, and when we visited the customer in this case to propose a vacuum pump, they consulted us about the cumbersome cleaning work.

When hardening in a vacuum carburizing furnace, a vacuum pump is used to create a vacuum so that foreign matter does not adhere to the product. However, tar generated during hardening enters the vacuum pump and hardens over time, causing the vacuum pump to stop working. Therefore, the vacuum pump is cleaned once a week on-site.
This work was extremely cumbersome and time-consuming, causing great trouble for the on-site maintenance staff. They consulted us about this issue, and this is how the project began.

OBSERVATION

Why does tar get into the water even though there is a tar filter?

The vacuum pump you were using already had a tar filter installed, so the tar should have been filtered out by this filter. However, in reality, there were frequent malfunctions in which the vacuum pump stopped working due to the adhesion of tar. Why can tar get through the filter? After seeing the working environment at the site, I hypothesized that vaporized tar was passing through a fine filter.

If it can't be captured by a filter, it must be a gas, not a liquid or solid.
Based on this hypothesis, we began selecting a model of vacuum pump protection device, the HS Collector, which has many specifications to suit the customer's environment.

SOLUTION

Liquefy and capture vaporized tar

In this project, it was necessary to cool the tar that had vaporized at high temperatures to a certain temperature and liquefy it, preventing the tar from entering the vacuum pump. In order to solve the problems of customers who use vacuum pumps in various environments, we have developed equipment that is adapted to each operating condition, so we were able to propose a prototype that could meet the requirements with a little customization of an existing product.

When the customer tested the prototype, it successfully captured the vaporized tar, and the customer is still able to continue working comfortably.

The issues faced by our customers are all-encompassing. How can we come up with the best solutions for each of our customers?
I believe that this is where the value of HRD lies.

We will continue to do our best to solve all of our customers' problems.