ROBOTS AT DIE-CASTING MACHINE FOR ALUMINUM CAR PARTS

In order to optimize its processes for die-casting both qualitatively and economically, Druckguss Hoym GmbH wanted to automate one of its casting cells. It soon became clear that the complex handling and gap-free spraying of all areas of the special casting molds could only be implemented through the use of six-axis jointedarm robots. Failure to achieve the required repeatability during the spraying of the parting agent would result in sections of the casting becoming stuck in the mold.

Implementation / Solution

Robots at die-casting machine for aluminum car parts

Druckguss Hoym decided in favor of a KUKA KR 30 standard robot and a KUKA KR 60 K shelf-mounted robot. After the solidification time, the KR 30 uses three-pronged gripper to take the blank from the hot casting mold of the machine. Because the robot always grips the casting on its sprue, it is able to handle a wide variety of products. The robot then positions the casting in front of sensors, by means of which the controller checks whether it is complete, or whether it is there at all. If the casting is OK, the robot then immerses it in a quenching bath of about 30 C (the temperature of the casting is between 300 C and 350 C). Rejects, on the other hand, are removed by placing them on a slide leading to a separate container. After the KR 30 removes the OK part from the quenching bath it places it in a trimming press. As soon as the KR 30 receives the signal from the unloading inspection that the part is OK, the KR 60 K sprays the mold of the die-casting machine with water-soluble parting agent under high air pressure, thus ensuring that the next casting will also be easy to remove. The shelf-mounted robot installed on top of the machine to save space is so precise that the user also benefits from lower consumption of parting agent.

System components / Scope of supply

KUKA KR 30 robot KUKA KR 60 K robot Three-pronged gripper Spray nozzle PC-based KUKA robot controller, including control panel with Windows interface Robot programming Commissioning

Results / Success

Cost-effectiveness The cost-effectiveness of this solution is based most of all on the favorable price/performance ratio of the robots and the fact that the company now only needs one operator for two machines.

Improved working conditions Considering that the handling has to be carried out in a hot environment filled with vaporized parting agent, with swirling clouds of metal flakes, this conversion has also made working conditions less stressful for the employees.

Quick product changes As far as the robots are concerned, all that is required to change to another product is to call up the appropriate program in the PC-based robot controller using the KUKA Control Panel. This is made much easier by the convenient Windows man-machine interface on the control panel.

Robots at die-casting machine for vehicle transmission

Development work and series start-up for castings tie up machine capacity which would otherwise be available for actual production. Diecasting Technologies Center (DTC), located in Dohna near Dresden, was founded to provide a way around this problem. The company takes on outsourced tasks, doing everything necessary to ready aluminum and magnesium die-cast parts for series production. By outsourcing the very time-consuming and labor-intensive development and series start-up phase from their own plants to DTC, customers save a large amount of time and money. In the course of a planning phase, DTC was looking for an automatic handling solution for the diecasting machine in its own production shop.

Implementation / Solution

Robots at die-casting machine for vehicle transmission

The choice fell on three KUKA KR 125 robots, which remove parts, spray molds with parting agent, and load thixocasting billets. Through the use of these robots, DTC transformed an ordinary casting cell into a fully-automated manufacturing island. This makes it possible to verify the suitability for series production of the entire process, including unloading, cooling and trimming; further optimization is also possible if necessary. As soon as the die-casting machine opens, the corresponding KR 125 removes the casting. It grips the product on its sprue, meaning that it can handle practically any part, even very large ones. In the next step the robot positions the part in front of sensors, by means of which the controller checks whether it is complete, or whether it is there at all. The robot then immerses the casting, which has a temperature of 300 to 350 C, into a quenching bath of about 30 C. It then transfers the part to a trimming press. Also integrated into the sequence is a turnover station, where the part is rotated if necessary before being loaded into the trimming press. The KR 125 mounted on top of the machine sprays the mold with water-soluble parting agent as soon as the previous part has been released by the controller. This procedure ensures that the next casting can be removed from the mold just as easily. DTC employs the third KR 125 for the thixocasting process, in which the molten aluminum which is otherwise used is replaced by a billet. The robot picks up a shell in which the billet rests, and then slides the billet out of the shell and into the filling chamber of the machine, or else it takes a freestanding billet from a platform, holding it along its entire length and round its full circumference so as not to deform it, and places it in the chamber.

System components / Scope of supply

Three KUKA KR 125 robots Gripper for the thixo billets Various jaws, used to grip the casting either on the sprue or directly on the contours of the part Spray head, which uses high-pressure air to apply water-soluble parting agent PC-based KUKA robot controllers, including control panel with Windows interface The complete customer-specific automation equipment for the die-casting cell Robot programming Stamping press Conveyor system Commissioning

Supplied by the KUKA systems partner FKS Maschinenbau GmbH, Berlin.

Results / Success

Resistant to high temperatures In order to handle the hot castings, the KR 125 in question was fitted with a so-called foundry wrist, which is resistant to particularly high temperatures.

Space-saving In order to take up as little space as possible, one of the robots was even mounted in a slanted position, although it was already saving space by being installed on top of the diecasting machine.

Very user-friendly The Windows interface on the control panel of the PC-based KUKA robot controller makes programming markedly simpler.

Higher quality The six-axis jointed-arm robot applies the parting agent more selectively than is possible with two-axis linear units. This allows problem areas to be sprayed reliably, for example. The KR 125 is also more economical with the parting agent.

Additional benefits KUKA robots provide short cycle times, high acceleration capacity, repeatability and an availability of nearly 100 percent.