Every machine builder’s dream is to make use of the latest technologies to design and build a machine from the ground up – to do something that has not been done before. Using a Kuka KR6 R900 Agilus Robot, Baumuller bmaxx5000 series modular servo drives and a Siemens S7-1500 PLC, all communicating over ProfiNet, Gedore and Motion Tronic have together designed and built a solution to perform grinding on the 1B spanner series. This is necessary to ensure that they have clean edges after they have been drop forged.
With a total of five Baumuller servomotor driven axis to perform the bulk of the work and another six axis on the robot to ensure quick and accurate handling, the machine completes four grinding operations previously done by hand. Via an HMI touch screen, every aspect of the machine can be monitored and adjusted. Fault reporting to pinpoint the exact problem reduces faultfinding time and in turn increases productivity. Making use of recipes and the required tooling changes, a full range of spanner sizes can be catered for.
The completion and commissioning of the robot grinding cell in early 2015 was a defining moment for Gedore Tools South Africa, as it was the first robot commissioned for the KZN manufacturing plant.
With Gedore’s expertise in hand tool manufacture and Motion Tronic’s expertise in automation the company’s believe the new machine has all the right ingredients to make it a world-class spanner grinding solution.
Due to the success of the project, Gedore Tools envisages similar projects with Motion Tronic in the near future.
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