TPi March 2016

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March 2016 Tube ProducTs InTernaTIonal 85
Oilfield technology
components: high quantities
of the highest quality
Article supplied by EMAG, Germany
An intelligent concept provides
a competitive edge
The specialists at EMAG Leipzig
Maschinenfabrik provide a very
precise answer to this question.
The company has specialised in the
machining of oilfield components
– such as coupling sleeves, tool
joints and rock bit cones, as well
as casings and delivery pipes – for
decades.
But it is the production of coupling
sleeves in particular that shows how
demanding this sector can be, as
it covers a multitude of processes
from the actual threading operation
to the cleaning process, and from
visual inspections to the final plating
operation.
The component also features a
marking that details the component
data (ie charge, material, manu-
Although the coupling sleeve is a relatively small
component, a great deal depends on its faultless
performance. These sleeve or tool joints are used to
precision-join the casings and delivery pipes with a
perfect screw fit, providing an absolutely leak-proof
and durable connection of the highest precision while
bearing the weight and considerable flexural stresses
of the pipes.
Production errors or large tolerances on the coupling
sleeve can endanger the whole resource delivery
process. With this in mind, the main focus is on efficient
mass production techniques, with the key question being
how an extremely high quality of the production process
for coupling sleeves can be guaranteed, especially
when the job calls for a single production facility to
manufacture millions of these components each year.
facturer, machine and cycle time). This multi-layered
production process benefits greatly from the intelligent EMAG
machine concept, where process integrity and precision are
as good as built-in.
The pick-up principle scores highly
Coupling sleeve production lines mainly use machines from
the VSC and VLC series. They are equipped with a pick-up
spindle that not only collects the workpiece from the incoming
conveyor belt, but firmly holds it vertically while it is machined
in the tooling zone.
This is of particular advantage where large quantities of these
sleeves are to be machined, as Dieter Fischer, managing
director of EMAG Leipzig, explains: “The component can be
produced in a much shorter time, as the various processes
are carried out one after the other in cycle times counted in
seconds. These processes do not only cover machining, but
also additional operations such as cleaning or measuring.”
When it comes to the mass production of coupling sleeves
in particular, the time savings add up to a considerable
The VSC 400 DUO CM turning
machine with automation,
as commonly used in the
production of coupling sleeves