Handling train wheels for a lathe cell #3

Task

In the factory of a Russian end customer, unfinished train wheels must be removed from the stack and deposited in one of the four vertical lathes in the lathe cell. There are 2 cells with 4 vertical lathes each. A low shop crane limits the height of the portal. Moreover, the wheels are stacked six high and held in place by means of a centering mandrel in the middle. Because of the centering mandrel, the gripper must be arranged at an angle in order to be able to reach the bottom wheel.
The unfinished wheels are stamped with a unique number code which must be read by a camera system. It is unclear where the code is located on the circumference of the wheel. Following the wheel code, product data are collected and transmitted to the customer’s OPC server.
Wheel weight: max. 1,200 kg
Wheel diameter: 700 - 1,270 mm
Total weight, incl. gripper: 2,300 kg

Solution

A slightly modified FP-7HD area portal allowed the construction height to be maximized. The gripper was redesigned and furnished with an integrated turn axis, and all the movements are driven by an electric motor. This solution contains no hydraulics or pneumatics!
In addition to this new development, the gripper was equipped with a travel measuring system for determining the diameter of the train wheel and matching it to the workpiece type of the batch. The camera system is stationary and moves radially and rotates in order to find the code on the wheel circumference. With this innovation, no chips or dirt reach the camera optics. The unfinished wheels are conveyed to the cell and the finished wheels from the cell in stacks of six by means of shuttles supplied by Güdel. The two cells are identical with a total of 2 portals and 8 shuttles.

Scope of supply

FP-7HD incl. unique gripper, turn axis (electr.), camera system incl. radial alignment and turning movement
Deposit space, Siemens control, software, installation and initial start-up

Result

Despite the projection, the angled gripper can grip parts with up to 1,200 kg of mass and turn them 180°. The optimal design allows the parallel movement of the gripper stroke to serve as a counterweight. The NC gripper and the integrated travel measuring system further increased system availability.