Decoma’s other main requirements were repeatability, short cycle times and continuous availability – in three-shift operation, six days a week. The range of tasks to be accomplished comprises handling of bumpers and sill covers after the injection molding process, as well as removal of film gates.

Handling of plastic bumpers

One of the robots takes the bumper, which weighs almost four kilograms, from the injection molding machine and places it with its side pieces downward on a form-fitted fixture. There the robot removes the film gates by means of a blade attached to its gripper. The gates drop into a refuse bin. The robot then transfers the bumper to a conveyor belt which takes the part out of the safeguarded zone.

When Decoma produces sill covers, the robot takes a pair of covers out of the injection molding machine and sets it down on a table. While the robot holds the sill covers in position, the table, which is equipped with 14 blades, carries out its operation, cutting off all 14 gates at the same time. Meanwhile the KR 150 K also holds the gates using pincers. The robot then sets the sill covers down on the same conveyor and drops the gates into a container. During handling of the bumpers and sill covers, the robot controller uses a vacuum system integrated into the grippers to monitor whether the KR 150 K has gripped the part in question.

• Two KUKA KR 150 K robots
• Two grippers constructed from standard components
• PC-based KUKA robot controller, including control panel with Windows interface
• Design
• Robot programming
• Commissioning
  
  

Supplied by the KUKA systems partner DAT Automatisierungstechnik GmbH, Pappenheim in Bavaria, Germany.

• Higher output
  
  The KR 150 K shelf-mounted robots are impressive for their optimized kinematic system, which produces higher velocities and payload capacities and a work envelope that is 73 percent larger.
  
  
  
• Space savings
  
  Because the KR 150 Ks are very lightweight in relation to their permissible payloads, they can be installed on top of the injection molding machine to save space. This is particularly useful when floorspace is limited, since the shelf-mounted robot does not take up any of the area in front of the machine. As a result, it is possible to arrange the machines much more compactly. What is more, the injection molding machine remains freely accessible from both the operator side and the non-operator side, with an unobstructed view of the process sequence at all times. The complexity of the safety enclosures can also be reduced.
  
  
  
• Flexibility
  
  The shelf-mounted robots can carry out a wide range of tasks, and converting them to handle new products is relatively quick and easy.