| Starting point / Task definition |
For a long time now, car doors have had many tasks beyond that of merely securing vehicles. Today a whole host of other functions are almost taken for granted - from window lifters and audio components to measuring the lateral acceleration in the event of an impact for airbag deployment.
The different components are assembled on a function carrier in the door lining. Due to the large number of equipment possibilities, the same function carriers cannot be used for every variant. In the present case, for example, ten different variants are employed. High flexibility was thus required. |
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| Implementation / Solution |
 | | Flexible manufacture of plastic function carriers |  |
In the first step a robot removes the function carriers from the injection molding machine. An adaptive gripper system enables the removal of all the function carrier variants without the need for a change of gripper.
Two cameras secured to the gripper establish the external contours and check the dimensional accuracy of the openings. After checking the thickness of the material with measuring tongs, the robot transfers the function carrier to a circular drag conveyor for transport to the assembly line 30 m away. There a Long Range robot takes over further distribution of the function carriers to the next five stations.
This process saves the use of expensive workpiece carriers for the different assembly and inspection stages.
At the next stage the function carriers are electrostatically charged to prepare them for the application of a surrounding two-component seal. In addition, a third robot blows a plasma jet of ionized gas onto their plastic surface.
The next station is the foam cell, in which a further robot applies a two-component foam mixture into the surrounding plastic groove. For the 15-minute hardening time of the foam, the Long Range robot moves the function carriers to a 7-layer FIFO carrousel with 42 places, and after hardening it transfers them to robot number 5 in an inspection cell, which examines the finished foam seal with an optical measuring probe system and also checks the dimensional accuracy.
In the subsequent ultrasonic welding cell, two different variants of metal bushing are fed in, as appropriate to the type of function carrier, positioned by a further robot and then welded.
A seventh robot in a press cell finally positions the function carriers in a press unit developed by Baumann, and two types of quick-action fasteners are then pressed in.
An eighth robot carries out final inspection and assigns the completed function carriers to special labeled lattice boxes for transportation. For this the robot alternately loads function carriers and slipsheets. The transport system, which was also developed by Baumann, can hold five empty and five full lattice boxes. In the incoming area, as also in the outgoing area, the carriers can be summoned individually so that no empty spaces are left on the conveyor.
The whole system is linked together by a host computer, which also prepares the production and process data. Each individual component in the production system is uniquely identified using a coding system. Data back-up is ensured via the Ethernet-LAN connection. On demand, the remote monitoring system communicates the respective operating state of all the controllers to the system integrator’s headquarters in Amberg, thus enabling a fault diagnosis within the shortest possible time, irrespective of the location. |
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| Results / Success |
| The system designed and installed by Baumann serving as the system integrator has fully automated the entire production process for the function carriers of the doors of the 7 Series BMW. With the use of six-axis robots, the system is extremely flexible and represents a sound investment for the future due to its use of modular robot components. |
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