Custom Dies & Swage Machine for HVAC Industry

Although Overton Industries’ two divisions have fairly different focuses, often times that versatility allows a customer to receive all the services they need under one roof. Recently we were able to do just that and kill two birds with one stone with a turn-key solution for a customer in the HVAC industry.

The end goal of this project was to create heat exchanger assemblies for residential HVAC units. The customer needed the ability to manufacture six different part numbers, with the potential for even more in the future. Changeover tooling and flexibility was of ultimate importance to keep tooling costs down and labor manageable.

Our Tool & Die division designed and built two dies, a blank die and a form die, to form the furnace burner partition panels that hold and locate burner tubes in heat exchanger assembly units. Changeover tooling allowed all six variations of part numbers to be formed without the need for six different dies. Our Tube Forming Systems division designed and built a custom 16 station swage machine to mechanically lock the formed partition panels to burner tubes. While the customer didn’t currently need 16 stations, the versatility of this machine allowed for flexibility in the future when other variations of the heat exchanger assemblies will be necessary. The swage machine contained poka-yoke features like part present sensors to ensure the set-up panel matched the PLC program, and individually controlled pressure sensing hydraulic valves to guarantee the fingers sized evenly.

Since shipment, not only are our machine and dies checking all the boxes, but we are also working with the customer on other adjustments to help improve their assembly processes. The goal of the project was achieved and the customer continues to reap the benefits with every part.