Robotic cell deburrs air tool components

Atlas Copco has installed a robotically integrated, beadblast finishing cell to lightly deburr and cosmetic finish a range machined rotors, gearshafts, housings and nuts.

Atlas Copco, the famous air powered tool manufacturer, have installed a robotically integrated, beadblast finishing cell designed by Guyson International to lightly deburr and cosmetic finish a range of six groups of newly machined rotors, gearshafts, housings and locking and clamping nuts.

The cell features a robotic loading and unloading system synchronised with a Guyson Multiblast RXS900 Rotary Table Indexing system designed for blast finishing individual components, which can be rotated about their own axis.

The blast process is PLC controlled to optimise the finish and to control the precise orientation and presentation of all components in the range, which vary from 15mm to 80mm in diameter, 10mm to 300mm in length and weigh up to 250g each.

Pallets of typically 40 components at a time are fed by conveyor through the cell on a series of custom built, symmetrically patterned carrier trays, precision built to ensure correct orientation.

Presentation to the six-axis, three fingered, pneumatic gripper robot is controlled by automatically locking each tray precisely in position on a fixed height location table, which is an integral part of the 4m long roller conveyor.

Process times range from 10 seconds for the smaller components to 15 to 20 seconds for the larger sizes.

Each symmetric pattern used across the full range of carrier trays is communicated to the robot through a 'teach' type programming system and stored.

The robot is positioned in front of the rotary indexing table of the RXS900 which has six component carrying rotating spindles equally spaced around its perimeter and is equipped with twelve blast finishing guns to provide all the deburring and finishing options required.

Controls for the system are located outside the cell and include a human/machine interface screen and power controls.

Using the HMI screen, the identity of the component-type to be processed is communicated to the robot which adopts the operating mode compatible with the pattern of its carrier tray.

The relevant gun combination is selected from a configuration of six fixed-position, four vertically traversing, and two pneumatically height-adjustable guns already in position over the two rotating workstations.

The blast cycle time, rotational speed of both workstations and stroke length of the traversing guns are all variable.

The complete cell, which also includes a cyclonic blast media reclamator and a reverse jet, pulse cleaning, dust collection unit, is housed within a secure safety enclosure covering an area of only 15m2.

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