Interlinking a Fully Automated Welding Plant
Problem definition
In a welding plant for truck supports, four workstations have to be fully automatically interlinked with six welding cells. The manually pre-cured components are transported on pallets on two parallel conveying paths and delivered with precise positioning. Handling robots distribute the components to the appropriate welding cells. Once the components are removed, the pallets are automatically guided back to the infeed area by the conveyor system. In addition, the finished supports have to be placed on another conveying path by the robots for removal following the welding process. An inspection workstation where a worker can perform the quality check is also required at the discharge end of the plant. Furthermore, the conveyor technology must be integrated into the existing controller.
mk solution
The Versamove plus pallet circulation system provided the ideal solution for the customer’s requirements. SRF-P 2010 accumulating roller chain conveyors with positioning units transport the pallets to the handling robots and position them with a repeat accuracy of +- 0.2 mm. The pallets themselves are fitted with RFID chips that store all the relevant information about the respective components. The robots read these chips and forward the pallets on to the appropriate welding cells. Lift-and-transfer conveyors remove the empty pallets and ZRF-P 2010 timing belt conveyors position them on the return line that runs in parallel. A customer-supplied needle embosser has also been integrated as the embossing station for the workpieces. The mk profile system was also used to establish the visual inspection station. Here, the components are pneumatically raised to an ergonomic working height. The worker can inspect the part comfortably on a plate that can be manually rotated 360°.
Benefits for customers
- Pallet circulation system tailored to customer requirements
- Economical price thanks to standardised components
- Compliance with customer-specific production equipment regulations
- Includes assembly and commissioning at the customer’s premises
