Robots speed through pneumatic fitting production
A
TM Robotics product story
Edited by the Engineeringtalk editorial team
Oct 10, 2003
A major UK manufacturer is being rewarded with increased output and profitability in pneumatic fitting (valve) production after installing three Scara robots from TM Robotics.
A major UK manufacturer is being rewarded with increased output and profitability in pneumatic fitting (valve) production after installing three Scara robots from TM Robotics.
Conventional automation can be an unattractive proposition to companies manufacturing relatively small batch sizes with frequent changeover periods.
TM Robotics has helped one such company by automating its assembly process with SR-654-HSP Scaras.
The Scaras have allowed an assembly cycle time of just 7.8s, which is 4.2s faster than the manual method.
Combined with minimum downtime, by ensuring a quick changeover period between product variants, this provides a very favourable payback.
Changeover efficiency is achieved using a PC containing all component information.
The result is an average "chip to chip" changeover time of just 15min.
"The process being automated was quite complex even before considering product variations and changeover periods", explained Nigel Smith, Managing Director of TM Robotics.
First, a vision system conducts an automatic check on the fitting body and Scara 1 inserts a prelubricated air-ring and places the parts on a collet.
Scara 2 then places a swivel nut into a "nest" before positioning an air ring on top.
A pneumatic ram cylinder is then lowered onto the two parts to swage them to shape.
Finally, Scara 3 performs a pressure decay test on the assembly and checks for the presence of the air ring.
A fibre optic sensor then verifies the presence of the collet.
Then, the system places the parts in one of four output trays, continuously counting the number being processed.
Scara robots offer parallel processing for smooth, fast motion combined with an extremely sophisticated set of control instructions to suit all applications.
They offer traversing rates of 300mm in 0.63s, carrying a 2kg payload; with accuracy provided by +/-0.02mm repeatability, and the ability to cope with 240 product variants, consisting of at least five components.
The robot's reinforced arm can handle up to 20kg at half-speed, or 10kg at full speed.
Not what you're looking for? Search the site.
Google Ads
Contact TM Robotics
Related Stories
- Airchannel helps timber specialist save energy
- Dragon Runner robot supports military troops
- SKF units improve continuous-cast milling
- Leuze develops data tracking for production line
- Diversified Plastics helps produce medical device
Browse by category
-
Capital Equipment (3,533)
- Capital Equipment (1)
- Compressors and Air Treatment (546)
- Electrical hardware (131)
- Electronics Manufacturing, Tools, Instruments (192)
- Machinery and Production Equipment (1,133)
- Manufacturing Machinery and Plant Equipment (478)
- Production line blowers and fans (74)
- Robotics, Handling and Storage (978)
- Consultancy and Services (927)
-
Control and Instrumentation (5,142)
- Cabling, Conduit, Signal Conditioning (818)
- CNC and Motion Controllers (190)
- Control and Instrumentation (3)
- HMIs/Operator Interfaces (297)
- Logic Controllers, Timers and Relays (96)
- Mid-range and Large PLCs (204)
- Plant- and Machine-Wide Communications (1,210)
- Plantwide control (1,354)
- Power Supplies, Uninterruptible Power (577)
- Smaller-Sized PLCs (393)
-
Drives, Motors and Controls (3,450)
- Drives, Motors and Controls (2)
- Industrial Drives/Controls (1,293)
- Industrial Motors (502)
- Linear Drives and Motors (121)
- Precision Motors and Gears (434)
- Stepper and Servo Drives, Motors, Controls (1,096)
-
Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (4,327)
- Batteries, chargers and circuit protection (588)
- Connectors, Terminals, Busbars, Slip Rings (724)
- Electrical and Electronic Components (652)
- Electrical and Electronic Equipment Design (4)
- Electrical and Electronic Subassemblies (377)
- Enclosures and Equipment Cooling Fans (722)
- Knobs, Handles and Enclosure Hardware (430)
- PCs and Embedded Systems (830)
-
Engineering Design Software (6,388)
- 2D CAD software (203)
- 3D CAD software (1,199)
- CAM, CNC, production management software (583)
- Data, document management software (324)
- Electrical design software (168)
- Engineering Design Software (17)
- FEA and structural analysis software (377)
- File conversion software, data capture (358)
- Fluid, thermal, noise, vibration software (340)
- Materials design and moulding design software (153)
- Maths, charting, statistics, QA software (325)
- PLM and collaboration software (665)
- Process, instrumentation, automation software (269)
- Publishing and documentation software (234)
- Rendering, visualisation, styling software (208)
- Simulation, modelling, validation software (965)
-
Engineering Industry News, Resources (6,199)
- Electronic Resources for Engineers (273)
- Engineering Business News, Views (388)
- Engineering Conferences (438)
- Engineering Education, Resources, Standards (851)
- Engineering Exhibitions, Events (578)
- Engineering Guides, Newsletters (354)
- Engineering Industry Developments, Awards (635)
- Engineering Industry News, Resources (4)
- Engineering Industry Reports, Surveys (597)
- Engineering Recruitment, Employment (219)
- Engineering Seminars (421)
- Engineering Training Courses (458)
- Health and Safety Consultancy, Software (180)
- Health and Safety Events, Training, News (285)
- Health and Safety Legislation (403)
- Health and Safety Strategy, Risk Assessment (115)
- Machine Building (4,633)
-
Materials and Processing (3,041)
- Materials and components (2,272)
- Materials and Processing (5)
- Materials processing and testing (292)
- Rapid Prototyping (472)
-
Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (5,681)
- Data Acquisition Hardware and PC I/O Boards (491)
- Data acquisition Software and Communications (505)
- Data loggers (428)
- Electrical and Electronic Testing, PAT Equipment (645)
- Form/co-ordinate, optical, vision instruments (766)
- Gauges, Indicators and Instruments (449)
- Materials testing equipment (439)
- Monitoring, Measurement and Quality (1)
- Telecomms/network test equipment, software etc (159)
- Testing and Calibration Services and Information (522)
- Testing, analysing and monitoring equipment (1,276)
-
Powertrain Design (3,723)
- Bearings (986)
- Chains and belts (334)
- Gears, brakes, couplings and engines (1,482)
- Hydraulic Components (475)
- Lubricants (441)
- Powertrain Design (4)
-
Sensors (7,319)
- Accelerometers and Vibration Sensors (450)
- Barcode Sensors (103)
- Flowmeters and Flow Sensors (650)
- Gas, Chemical, Radiation, Magnetic Sensors (294)
- Humidity and Environmental Sensors (158)
- Level Sensors and Leak Detectors (539)
- Linear Position Sensors (417)
- Loadcells, Force Sensors, Torque Sensors (732)
- Pressure sensors (643)
- Proximity Sensors (715)
- Rotary Position, Tilt and Angular Sensors (565)
- Sensors (12)
- Temperature sensors (624)
- Vision and Colour Sensors (1,417)
- Small Mechanical Components, Joining, Tools (2,057)
- Valves, Pumps, Process Hardware (3,732)
