Robot handles colters

The system is used to process about 70 different articles. Operating personnel set the pallets with the parts down on a roller conveyor, which transports them to the KR 125. The robot picks up the parts one at a time using its magnetic gripper and sets them down in defined positions on another roller conveyor, which passes through the high-temperature furnace. When the red-hot material comes out of the furnace, it is first held in a fixture. Then the two KR 200s pick up the parts with their pneumatically-operated mechanical grippers. Each of the two robots places the products in its own subordinate hardening machine.

The handling is characterized by efficient time management. As soon as the robots have removed the parts from the hardening machine, they set them down on a grate to drip off. The robots use the drip-off time to pick up the next parts which come out of the furnace, and to load the hardening machine again. During the forming process the KR 200s change their grippers, pick up drip-dried products one at a time, and place them on a tempering pallet. In the case of smaller parts there no gripper change, and furthermore they are simply dropped into tempering baskets.

• One KUKA KR 125 robot
• Two KUKA KR 200 robots
• Magnetic gripper for the KR 125
• Pneumatically-operated gripper for the KR 200
• PC-based KUKA robot controller, including control panel with Windows interface
• Robot programming
• Commissioning

• Balanced quality
  
  By switching from manual handling to the use of robots, Lemken now enjoys more continuity and reproducibility, and thus ultimately more accurate processes, which in turn lead to more balanced quality. This is further supported by the mandatory documentation of all process parameters.
  
  
• Availability
  
  Essential to realizing the required performance is the high availability of the KUKA robots. The six-axis robots, including their grippers, achieve an availability of nearly 100%.
  
  
• Simple operator control
  
  What makes the robots so simple to operate is their easy-to-program PC-based controller, their standard software running under Windows, and the familiar Windows-based user interface of the KUKA Control Panel.
  
  
• Improved working conditions
  
  Personnel can now avoid the considerable physical stress to which they had previously been subjected, and which had often caused back problems and frequent sick leave. Creating a healthier work environment is also important when one considers the temperatures present in the system; while the operators faced extreme heat in front of them, their backs remained relatively cool in comparison.