Robots at die-casting machine for aluminum car parts

After the solidification time, the KR 30 uses three-pronged gripper to take the blank from the hot casting mold of the machine. Because the robot always grips the casting on its sprue, it is able to handle a wide variety of products. The robot then positions the casting in front of sensors, by means of which the controller checks whether it is complete, or whether it is there at all. If the casting is OK, the robot then immerses it in a quenching bath of about 30 °C (the temperature of the casting is between 300 °C and 350 °C). Rejects, on the other hand, are removed by placing them on a slide leading to a separate container. After the KR 30 removes the OK part from the quenching bath it places it in a trimming press.

As soon as the KR 30 receives the signal from the unloading inspection that the part is OK, the KR 60 K sprays the mold of the die-casting machine with water-soluble parting agent under high air pressure, thus ensuring that the next casting will also be easy to remove. The shelf-mounted robot – installed on top of the machine to save space – is so precise that the user also benefits from lower consumption of parting agent.

• KUKA KR 30 robot
• KUKA KR 60 K robot
• Three-pronged gripper
• Spray nozzle
• PC-based KUKA robot controller, including control panel with Windows interface
• Robot programming
• Commissioning

• Cost-effectiveness
  
  The cost-effectiveness of this solution is based most of all on the favorable price/performance ratio of the robots and the fact that the company now only needs one operator for two machines.
  
  
  
• Improved working conditions
  
  

  Considering that the handling has to be carried out in a hot environment filled with vaporized parting agent, with swirling clouds of metal flakes, this conversion has also made working conditions less stressful for the employees.

  
  
  
• Quick product changes
  
  As far as the robots are concerned, all that is required to change to another product is to call up the appropriate program in the PC-based robot controller using the KUKA Control Panel. This is made much easier by the convenient Windows man-machine interface on the control panel.