From a blank sheet to a finished installation.
Your design or ours, we can do that.
This system is one of three recently delivered. The system removes compression molded parts and sorts them through a customer created vision inspection system and then crates them for shipping. A rotary actuator is used to invert the parts prior to crating nine at a time. Various reject points along the conveyor ensure that only quality parts are crated.
The conveyors are Flexlink XM conveyors. There is a wedge conveyor that grips the parts from the sides so that vision inspection can be accomplished above and below the parts. The parts are pinched in the urethane fingers of the wedge and then set gently back down on the exit conveyor.
Colorado Automation and Design has the experience and ability to bring your automation needs from concept through design into manufacturing and finally installation on your floor to help meet your production needs. We can work with your production team to create a production flow that works with the amount of automation that suits your company best. We don’t use high pressure sales to put more machine on your floor than you need. We work with our customers to create automation to optimize their production needs within the budgets that all companies have to work with in today’s marketplace. Technology allows us to project the requirements for manufacturing and work with our customers to ensure that the automation is expandable to accommodate planned growth tomorrow without sacrificing the capital expenditures of today. Every customer has unique needs that are effected by not only budget constraints, but by technical capabilities. Working with the various departments of our customers allows us to design our systems around the capabilities of the production and maintenance personnel. Delivering a system to our customer that serves the needs of the entire company is the primary objective.
Three of these conveyor Systems were designed, built and installed by Colorado Automation and Design. Using Flexlink XL conveyor the parts were run thru the System to be packaged in trays for final assembly. The compression molded parts were unloaded in groups of 10 and placed onto the conveyor with an inversion gripper. The part would then pass thru a deflash station using custom designed brushes to lightly remove any flashing without damaging the parts. A side vision inspection using Cognex cameras would then measure the parts to determine the first stage of pass/fail criteria. The parts were then transferred thru a set of Flexlink side grip belts to allow a Cognex camera to inspect the top and bottom of the parts to determine the next stage of pass/fail criteria. Tracking of the parts allowed an immediate rejection if a failure was spotted. The parts were then counted and loaded into a matrix tray using a Parker Slide and Servo system. Using an Allen Bradley Compact Logix plc allowed a control level and integration into the customer site that proved quick and effective. Working with our Strategic Partner Flexlink proved valuable for the customer by allowing a quick design of the conveyor system and rapid deployment.
Sometimes a customer needs to repurpose robots from one facility to another. Working with our Strategic Partner Concept Systems we designed and integrated a set of Nachi 166kg shelf mount robots to repurpose them as sheet metal handling robots.
The customer needed to be able to handle up to a 5×10 foot sheet of 11 ga steel weighing in at 250 pounds. With a total robot capacity of only 365 pounds the challenge of a custom end effector became paramount.
The customer needed to change the loading for a set of Amada punch presses and a press brake so parts needing 2 or 3 people to handle the large sheet of steel could be done safer and more efficiently. Using a set of incoming conveyors, capable of having a forklift set a 5000 pound stack of sheets, the central robot would pick from the correct stack and place the sheet into one of two Amada turret punch presses.
Using a combination of on-robot vacuum and electro-magnetics allowed the gripper to have zone control and maintain the sheet during the transfer. When the Amada signals the sheet is complete the robot would pick it from the press and load it onto another set of outgoing conveyors. On the Press Brake the customer was able to take large formed parts that would take two operators working in concert to manage the part and have the robot perform the motions while signaling the brake to step thru it’s programming. Using a floor mounted locating fixture the robot would pick the blanks up and process them. When a situation came up that would need the robot to change positions, usually done in the brake, the part was placed on a vibratory skid table or electromagnetic system is used to hold the part while the robot changes gripping surfaces. Our Strategic Partnership with Concept Systems benefited the customer by having a UL rated control system with fluid integration into the existing Nachi robots and Amada presses. Existing engineers at Concept System with Nachi programming backgrounds allowed a quick installation and short training sessions to get the customer up and in production rapidly. Our many years of design experience guided us through a complex end effector and installation process.
Using a pair of Epson Scara robots integrating into a four position servo dial we load and weld stainless steel parts for our customer. Our Strategic Partner Concept Systems developed the latest in vision software to determine correct part and calculate orientation prior to using the Scara robot to pick and place the part into a nest fixture. The next station inspects and determine orientation to load the mating part into the nest fixture. The parts are located within thousandths of an inch to one another. The paired parts are then passed into a laser weld station where they are welded together. Another Concept Systems developed vision system is used to inspect the parts to verify they meet dimensional requirements prior to discharge. Our strategic partnership with Concept Systems allowed this system to go from a failure with a defunct integrator into a winner for the customer.
Concept Systems and Colorado Automation and Design worked with the customer to develop a new technology in their industry. Using a Fanuc Delta robot and custom vacuum gripper system we are able to pick and process the customers product moving an average of 15 inches at a throughput rate of 120 parts per minute. Our professional team of installers have been integrating these Stations with the customer’s production machines from coast to coast. With 30 systems in the works, this multi-million dollar project is more proof of why Colorado Automation and Design can make your project a success.
With the rapid rise of small batch brewers in the country CAD is working with local Colorado Brewers to develop the next generation of brewing and packaging equipment. Stay tuned for details.
Sure, it might be some black box stuff we are working on next, or maybe the next project for your competition.