Page 27 - Highlights 2013
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speaking, there are four finished modules
every 30 seconds,” explains Ulmer.
Flexible and easy to teach
The system processes about one million
relays per year. The easy programming of the
kinematics using the Festo Configuration Tool
FCT is a huge benefit: “The intuitive
programming has helped us greatly to make
quick changes to the functional sequence
and the installation position.”
Tripod high-speed system with CMXR
The low moving mass and the high rigidity
make the handling highly dynamic.
The Tripod is controlled by robotic controller
CMXR. The controller can spatially position
tools and grippers, ensuring they are always
on the programmed path.
In the assembly of safety relays for diesel
engines, two delta robots equip the plastic
main body of the relays with seven to nine
contacts. The system comprises 24 stations.
For better quality, the parts have to be
manufactured on a fully automatic system
with automatic inspection stations.
Quality conscious
The system is studded with stations for
inspecting component parts, performing
continuity tests and high-voltage tests,
monitoring the dosing of soldering paste,
monitoring temperature and measuring the
installed contacts. “The inspection stations
are an essential part of the assembly cells
where four cameras are integrated,” says
Ulmer.
After just 90 seconds, the relays have passed
through all 24 assembly stations and the
relay housings are fully assembled and
inspected – including coating – and printed
with the current production date. “Strictly
Highly dynamic thanks to the low moving mass, very rigid thanks to the pyramid-shaped, closed structure and more easily accessible than a Cartesian handling
system or a SCARA robot: the parallel kinematics of the Tripod.
High-speed production and
inspection of relays
“The parallel kinematics of the Tripod requires less space and design effort than
a gantry handling unit and is faster than a SCARA,” says Gerd Ulmer, General Manager
of G. Ulmer Automation GmbH, summarising the advantages of the new handling system.
He just installed two of them in an assembly system for automotive suppliers.
“With our shift operation,
we manufacture about
one million relays per
year in three variants –
the parallel kinematics
contributes significantly
to that.”
Gerd Ulmer,
General Manager of G. Ulmer
Automation GmbH
How does parallel kinematics
work? And how can it make your
company more productive?
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