SUDRAD is now using two KUKA KR125 robots in its car wheel manufacturing operations.
The company produces steel disc wheels for cars and various commercial vehicles.
After the mechanical manufacturing processes, the wheels are placed on a circular conveyor, where they go through cathodic dip painting and the associated preparatory steps.
Before the installation of the robots, operators had to manually hang the wheels on the conveyor. This is now automated with the use of a jointed-arm robot.
The criteria for the robot were short cycle times of not more than twelve seconds, rapid acceleration and precise handling.
The robots were also required to be flexible, since the diameter and thickness of the steel disc wheels vary. The greatest challenge, however, was to synchronise the conveyor with the robots, which have to hand over the wheels with an accuracy of ± 2 mm.
The KUKA KR 125 robots provided by Headland are six-axis units. In three-shift operation, these robots hang from 15,000 to 18,000 wheels per day on the conveyor.
The steel disc wheels are transported on two separate roller conveyors to the two KR 125s, where they are stopped and separated by swivel arms. A locating fixture then simultaneously takes hold of two wheels at defined positions, allowing the robot to pick them up securely using its double gripper. The hangers of the circular conveyor are fixed in place to facilitate transfer.
Sudrad also installed light barriers and an inspection gauge to monitor the overhead conveyor hooks. If the controller determines that the tolerances are not being maintained, the robots let the hanger in question pass through the cell without being loaded.
If a different wheel type is needed for pick up, operators use the KUKA Control Panel to call up the appropriate program in the robot controller.