Company A manufactures various machine tools and FA equipment. The company was planning a model change for its FA inspection equipment to improve processing speed.
Their development department was struggling with several technical issues in solving the heat generation problem. Mr. B, chief engineer of Company A's development department, explained.
"Improving processing speed significantly increases the amount of heat generated inside the enclosure. We performed a simulation using the cooling fan used in the current model, and it was estimated that the current fan would underperform.
Conventionally, cooling was done by circulating the air inside sealed equipment. But it was found that internal circulation alone would not provide sufficient cooling after the model change, and it would need to draw in air from the outside.
It was assumed that drawing in air from outside the equipment in a factory environment with oil mist would lead to oil buildup in the fan, possibly causing it to fail."
Mr. B and his people tried various cooling fans, but none of them were able to meet the required specifications.
Mr. B contacted SANYO DENKI, with whom another department of Company A had previously worked, to discuss the cooling fan. Then, a sales representative of SANYO DENKI visited Company A. After a detailed discussion with Mr. B, he proposed their Oil Proof Fan.
"The windings and electronic components of the Oil Proof Fan they proposed are protected by a resin coating, and it can be used stably even in our factory where oil mist is present," explained Mr. B. "Moreover, it features an excellent maximum static pressure; about 1.4 times that of the fan that it replaced. It was certainly capable of sufficiently cooling the inside of the equipment and also withstanding our factory's harsh operating environment."
Mr. B was very interested in the proposal and requested a sample for evaluation right away.
"A sample arrived shortly, and the SANYO DENKI sales rep assisted us in our internal evaluation and presentation by explaining the P-Q characteristics, which are the relationship between airflow and static pressure," said Mr. B. "Although the development schedule was tight, the fan passed the evaluation smoothly as it has an excellent cooling capability and oil resistance."
In this way, Company A decided to officially use the SANYO DENKI's Oil Proof Fan.
"We also consulted the sales rep about customizing the connector," continued Mr. B. "Thanks to the SANYO DENKI customization service, we did not need to change our product's PCB, and assembly man-hours were reduced. Furthermore, we appreciate that the product warranty included the connector processing. This custom service needed to make an extra adjustment during prototype production, but they handled it quickly."
A few months later, Company A successfully completed development of the new model.
"The fan has demonstrated excellent cooling performance as expected," said Mr. B. "We achieved stable equipment operation without being affected by oil mist. I would definitely like to continue to consult SANYO DENKI in the future on various matters."
