We know that every machine builder’s dream is to utilise the latest technology to design and build a machine from scratch. Our dreams came true when we put our heads together with Gedore Tools and did something that has never been done before.
Together, we came up with an innovative grinding solution for Gedore’s 1B spanner series. The purpose of grinding is that it ensures that the spanners have clean edges after they have been drop-forged.
The system comprises of a Kuka KR6 R900 Agilus robot, six Baumüller bmaxx5000 series modular servo drives and a Siemens S7-1500 PLC which all communicate over Profinet.
With a total of five Baumüller servomotor driven axes to perform the bulk of the work and another six axes on the robot to ensure quick and accurate handling, the machine carries out four grinding operations that would have previously been done by hand. Every aspect of the machine can be monitored and adjusted via an HMI touch screen. Fault reporting pinpoints the exact problem which reduces fault finding time and in turn increases productivity. It is also able to adapt to a full range of spanner sizes.
This project was a huge success and the first robot Gedore Tools commissioned at its KZN plant. With Gedore’s expertise in hand tool manufacturing and ours in automation it’s no wonder that we were able to come up with something groundbreaking!