SFC - Stud Driving Chucks

Stud chuck from BILZ - Small product, big solution

In complex assembly processes, small products are often decisive for productivity and efficiency. That's why it's important to have an experienced partner at your side when it comes to customised solutions. Like BILZ with its unique expertise in stud chucks.

The customers:

Customers for stud chucks are often plant and machine manufacturers for the automotive and supplier industry, who set up entire assembly lines fully or semi-automatically. Here, where the highest demands are placed on productivity and optimum cycle times, many automotive components are assembled and ultimately result in a quality product: engine blocks, housings, manifolds or wheel hubs. Assembly is usually carried out using electronically controlled manual screwdrivers.

The challenge:

The requirements, whether for manual or automatic assembly, are high. Take the assembly of wheel hubs, for example: Similar to machining on a machine, the stud chucks from BILZ are the link between the machine and the tool, in this case the machine (screwdriving unit) and the stud. The practical application is as follows: During manual assembly, the operator of the screwdriving unit removes the appropriate studs from their container and inserts them into the stud chuck or the workpiece, usually with one or two turns. Particular attention must be paid to the maximum torque of the thread size and the overcut length in order to avoid damaging the workpiece surface. If the stud bolts are fed into an automated assembly line, they usually come from a bulk material shaker in which the bolts are positioned and then injected into a loading station using compressed air. In this station, they are then picked up using the BILZ stud chuck. A clamping sleeve is required on the chuck or a stud screw must be clamped in the fixture. It is then screwed into the workpiece. These processes can be carried out with one or more spindles. Once the stud bolt has been screwed in, the chuck is simply removed. The clamping jaws open and close again automatically when the stud bolt is released. It is not necessary to reverse and stop the drive spindle.

The requirements here are, on the one hand, the availability of a large variety of classic standard sizes and, on the other hand, an increasing number of individually designed, highly specialised solutions.

The BILZ solution

This is where BILZ's many years of expertise in solving customers' individual requirements come into play. On the one hand, there is a very wide range of standard solutions for stud screw chucks in an extensive product catalogue.

However, requests for customised solutions from the plant manufacturer's technical department now make up the majority, as requirements are becoming increasingly specific. During the project planning phase, the customer usually submits a drawing with their requirements such as size, torque, locking pin, stop/clamping sleeve and the BILZ design engineers then select the appropriate stud chuck for the customer-specific application. It is important in the application that no imprints remain, that the stud bolt is not damaged by the screwing-in process, that end-face upsets are avoided, etc. In individual cases, tests are also carried out in advance directly at BILZ using the stud bolts provided by the customer. In other words, every opportunity is taken to guarantee the customer the assurance of consistent quality and maximum precision.

The benefit for the customer

On the one hand, the customer has access to a unique technological modular system for standard solutions. This alone ensures the greatest possible coverage of requirements. If a customised solution is required, the customer can rely on the solution expertise and experience of the BILZ team. Working together on the customised solution described at an early stage saves around 30 to 40 percent of time on the assembly line, as there is no need to unscrew the chuck from the stud bolt. As the stud bolt, as with simple screw-in chucks, cannot turn when the chuck is turned down, which may not be noticed or may be noticed too late and can lead to unforeseen damage in the further process (see wheel hub), the greatest possible safety and reliability for consistent quality is ensured here.