Partner with leadership qualities

To automate the adjustment lines of gasoline injectors, Sonplas uses THK curved guides. (Image: Sonplas GmbH)

The THK arc guide is a precision guide that allows for exact circular and arc movements. (Image: Sonplas GmbH)

To precisely guide the plunger in the new high-pressure pump, THK linear guides with integrated ball chain are used. (Image: Sonplas GmbH)

Piston pumps are suitable for small or large flow rates, achieve various pressure levels, and are capable of pumping all liquid media. (Image: Sonplas GmbH)

Uwe Hartwig, responsible Indunorm field service technician: "I am very happy to have been involved from the very beginning in planning new projects, in order to directly influence them with the most suitable products from our company and to provide a high level of service." (Image: Indunorm Bewegungstechnik GmbH)

Dietmar H. Heim, Sales Director at Indunorm: "As a development partner, we support our customers from the very beginning in choosing the appropriate control systems." (Image: Indunorm Bewegungstechnik GmbH)

Werner Riederer, Sales Engineer at Sonplas: "We want to develop and build assembly and testing systems at the highest technical level for our customers with our innovations." (Image: Sonplas GmbH)

Sonplas GmbH designs and manufactures assembly and testing systems according to customer specifications. The range extends from complete new developments to extensive specific modifications of existing systems. The manufacturer relies on selected suppliers – such as Indunorm, Europe's largest THK distributor. Sonplas has trusted the components of the global market leader for years – for example, highly precise curved guides for adjusting fuel injection valves.

"Success has a name: Diligence, perseverance & honesty" – this is the motto of Sonplas GmbH in Bavarian Straubing. The medium-sized company is one of the leading manufacturers of assembly and testing systems, mainly used in the automotive industry. "Primarily, our machines are used for injection systems, so everywhere fuel flows through," describes Werner Riederer, sales engineer at Sonplas. Correspondingly, systems for hydro-erosive rounding of nozzles and injection components are used to calibrate the flow. "In this process, an abrasive fluid mixed with grinding particles is pumped under high pressure—up to 120 bar—through the workpiece holes to round off bore intersections," explains Riederer. The flow rate can be increased by up to 50 percent depending on the application. The portfolio also includes assembly and testing systems for electromobility as well as test stands for aerospace components. Sonplas handles the customer-specific process and electronics development for all systems and, if necessary, process-specific sample part production. Customers receive complete solutions from a single source, including comprehensive service – not only in Europe but also through representatives in the USA, China, India, Brazil, Korea, and Japan.

To continually improve in what it does, the company has an in-house research department. This allows engineers to respond to very specific requirements with certainty. "Our customers demand systems at the highest technical level and ever shorter delivery times," says the Sonplas sales engineer. "Accuracy and durability of our solutions are becoming increasingly important. Additionally, reproducible quality in series production is crucial."

Reliable partners needed

To meet these requirements, the engineers assemble the systems using a modular principle of individual modules, assemblies, and subsystems. This way, the manufacturer can always build on proven solutions—even for special machines—and deliver relatively quickly. "But of course, we don't manufacture all components ourselves; we simply can't," explains Riederer. "We rely on quality products from selected suppliers." Among these partners is Indunorm Bewegungstechnik GmbH. The company, headquartered in Duisburg with a location in Stuttgart, is the largest European distributor of the linear guide manufacturer and global market leader THK. What does Sonplas expect from the supplied components? Longevity, quality, and a good price-performance ratio. "I am very happy to be involved from the very beginning in planning new projects to directly influence the selection of the most suitable products from our house and to offer a high level of service," explains Uwe Hartwig from Indunorm. He is responsible for field sales and the primary contact for technical and commercial questions at Sonplas.

The company from Straubing has been successfully relying on collaboration with Indunorm—and on THK components—for many years to implement secure processes in their systems. One example: the adjustment lines for gasoline injection valves. These components must inject the calculated amount of fuel precisely in every operating state of the engine. A specific injection angle must be maintained for each engine type. "We used to set these adjustments manually. But then we wanted to automate it," says Riederer. The engineers worked with specialists from Indunorm. The solution was the THK curved guides. "With these, we can now reliably cover various angles of the electrical connectors," describes the Sonplas sales engineer.

Curved guide ensures precise movements

The THK curved guide of type HCR is a precision guide that allows exact circular and arc movements. Compared to rotary ball or cross-roller bearings, individual movements can be performed independently of each other depending on the arrangement of the carriages. Additionally, the design can be simplified because technicians can position the guide carriage at load-bearing points. The curved guide is compact and can withstand loads from all main directions—radial, counter-radial, and tangential—with the same load capacities. "The larger the radius of the circular movement, the more cost-effective it is to realize," explains Hartwig. Even circular movements with diameters of more than five meters, which cannot be achieved with conventional rotary bearings, are easily realized with this curved guide.

"We also used THK components in the development of a new plunger pump," Riederer mentions as another example. Sonplas offers various pump series with different volume and pressure ranges, including explosion-proof applications. Plunger pumps are reliable high-pressure pumps used in many industrial applications, such as hydro-erosive machining. They are suitable for small or large flow rates, achieve various pressure levels, and can pump all liquids—including water, oil, gases, or abrasive fluids—over a wide temperature range. "We were looking for a highly precise guide for the plunger for the new series," Riederer explains. In discussions with Indunorm, both sides agreed on the THK linear guides with integrated ball chain.

Precisely guided

These components are characterized primarily by their highly precise guiding properties. The ball chain keeps the rollers at a constant distance from each other. The typical noises caused by collisions and rubbing of the balls are eliminated, significantly reducing noise and wear. The cage pockets in the chain form a lubricant reservoir for continuous grease supply directly to the rollers, enabling extremely long relubrication intervals.

Furthermore, a high running smoothness with extremely low vibrations can be achieved. Each ball row is arranged at a contact angle of 45 degrees. Therefore, like the curved guide, this series also has uniform load capacities in all main directions: radial, counter-radial, and tangential. "This allows the linear guides to be used universally," describes Hartwig from Indunorm. Additionally, the carriage can be preloaded to increase stiffness. This type thus enables highly accurate and stable linear motion. The component also impresses during assembly. Due to the X-arrangement of the four curved raceway grooves with two-point contact, the carriage compensates for potential effects of assembly errors on motion accuracy—even under preload.

Quick on-site support

"For us, flawless design of the THK components and quick delivery are extremely important," says Werner Riederer. That’s why Sonplas highly values its collaboration with Indunorm. The high-quality curved and linear guides, as well as the competent and trustworthy advice, continually convince him anew. Dietmar H. Heim, Managing Director of Sales at Indunorm Bewegungstechnik GmbH: "As development partners, we support our customers from the very beginning in choosing the appropriate guide systems."

And just as Sonplas values Indunorm as a supplier, the customers value Sonplas. The custom machine builder has received various awards, such as the Production Equipment Supplier Award from Magneti Marelli, the Supplier of the Year Award from Continental, and the Pinnacle Award for Supplier Excellence from Delphi. "Diligence, perseverance & honesty," combined with the right partners, truly stand out.