ServoBelt provides high-end efficiency for automotive gantry

Overhead pick-and-place gantries are an necessary a part of trendy automotive crops, shifting and positioning components with the pace, precision, and reliability that high-volume manufacturing calls for. Historically, producers have confronted an equipment-selection dilemma, with the trade dominated by heavy-duty programs constructed from large metal fabrications. Designed for excessive payloads, these overbuilt programs come from massive tools suppliers who supply sturdy engineering at a premium worth, prolonged lead instances and restricted room for personalization.

Small and midsize automotive purposes, nevertheless, don’t require such excessive capabilities, and in these circumstances, the outsized programs signify a essential mismatch. Compounding this problem, the trade’s fast-moving manufacturing setting calls for suppliers who can adapt rapidly, customise gantry programs to particular software wants and ship inside aggressive time frames — necessities that many massive, established tools producers are unable to satisfy.

Thankfully, a movement management system has emerged to fill this hole. Gantry programs that includes ServoBelt expertise ship the industrial-grade sturdiness and customizability automotive manufacturing requires — at a fraction of the price of conventional rack-and-pinion programs and with lead instances which are typically lower than half of these of bigger suppliers.

Equally necessary, superior beam engineering using T-slot extrusions ensures ServoBelt programs meet the structural efficiency requirements producers count on from conventional rack and pinion tools.

For these causes, ServoBelt movement management expertise allows automotive producers to implement superior overhead automation with out compromising on the efficiency their manufacturing calls for.

Designing an overhead gantry for an automotive provider

Progressive Machine & Design (PMD), a {custom} automation firm in Victor, N.Y., was tasked with designing an automatic manufacturing line for a Tier 1 automotive provider. A part of a diesel engine camshaft manufacturing operation, the road would come with a pick-and-place gantry system to move components by means of a number of machining operations.

The manufacturing line consisted of sequential machining operations, with 4 to 5 machines at every stage. The gantry’s perform was to deal with the camshafts, from uncooked inventory to ultimate product, transporting them between the varied machining facilities.

The system was designed to select up the uncooked camshaft blanks and ship them to the primary set of machines. From there, it could transfer the components by means of completely different operations, together with grinding, lathing, and different machining processes. The gantry was designed to interface with the top-loading machining facilities and to exist above the machines, saving helpful ground house.

The core problem in the course of the design course of was to engineer a sturdy overhead gantry system that might navigate a good plant structure, deal with a two-camshaft payload weighing roughly 80 kg (176.3 lb.), and supply exact positioning for half supply into the machines.

Gantry-based robotics can transport supplies throughout manufacturing processes. Supply: Bell-Everman

ServoBelt drive delivers efficiency

For its gantry system, PMD integrated ServoBelt expertise — a linear drive system that mixes the reliable “rack and pinion” drive methodology with precision and anti-backlash traits because of a novel belt design. ServoBelt’s key options, equivalent to its ease of customization, excessive efficiency, and avoidance of overly greased metal racks, made it an acceptable selection for this undertaking.

Design flexibility and customization: In contrast to inflexible, standardized programs, ServoBelt expertise allowed PMD to customise the gantry’s dimension, top, and beam span to suit the precise plant structure constraints.

This flexibility was a essential issue that “tipped the scales” in ServoBelt’s favor, in accordance with Brent Stratton, chief mechanical engineer at PMD.

Excessive efficiency with out over-engineering: ServoBelt delivered the required efficiency specs with out pointless over-engineering. Although able to even tighter precision, it offered the mandatory quarter-millimeter positioning accuracy and will deal with high-speed journey, working at 3 m/s (6.7 mph) — properly inside its functionality of 4 m/s (8.9 mph).

Lengthy-distance capabilities: A key benefit of ServoBelt is its distinctive belt-rack design, which eliminates belt stretch over any journey distance. This function allowed PMD to create a protracted gantry that spanned a number of machining facilities with out sacrificing positioning accuracy.

“Whereas we don’t typically make programs this lengthy, we might often attain for a continuous-loop or OMEGA-type drive,” Stratton stated. “However the great thing about the ServoBelt belt-rack system is that it takes all of the stretch out of the equation. You’ll be able to go actually lengthy with out worrying about belt stretch in any respect.”

Future scalability: The modular nature of ServoBelt expertise helps future growth. If the operation ultimately requires extra machines, for instance, the gantry could be prolonged to accommodate the expanded structure, offering a long-term and adaptable answer.

ServoBelt has a design to eradicate belt stretch over any journey distance. Supply: Bell-Everman

Composite beam meets the trade’s structural requirements

Whereas ServoBelt offered the movement management expertise, its beam design represented an equally essential engineering problem. Automotive producers used to conventional rack-and-pinion programs have particular expectations relating to structural efficiency.

Composite aluminum beam provides structural efficiency. Supply: Bell-Everman

To fulfill these necessities, the Bell-Everman engineering staff performed intensive “beam science” work. It analyzed and optimized a number of structural traits like beam stiffness, deflection, torsional stiffness, torsional deflection, and space second of inertia. Every parameter performs an necessary position in making certain the gantry maintains positioning underneath load and all through its journey vary.

In contrast to Bell-Everman’s conventional single-piece extrusion designs, this software required a brand new composite-beam building to attain the mandatory structural efficiency. The engineers designed a beam meeting utilizing versatile T-slot extrusions skinned in anodized aluminum, making a construction that eradicated deflection between mounting factors.

This composite method delivered a number of advantages. It offered the structural rigidity required for the applying, supplied the aesthetic look of premium industrial tools and maintained the customizability that made ServoBelt enticing within the first place.

As well as, the intensive design and testing work proved that the gantry system may meet the identical structural requirements as heavy-duty metal tools whereas sustaining value and lead time benefits.

Customized enhancements guarantee security and reliability

Along with the core gantry and beam, PMD designed and built-in a number of {custom} options to make sure the pick-and-place system operated safely and reliably. The controls included Allen Bradley drives and motors with Neugart gearboxes.

To deal with the payload, PMD chosen Schunk grippers with a security lock function that stops them from opening if air stress is misplaced. Engineers additionally designed a small Y-axis shift into the gripper design to accommodate minor positional misalignments of the machines.

For security, PMD performed a threat evaluation. After figuring out the necessity for redundant Z-axis brakes, engineers tasked Bell-Everman with integrating these brakes into the gantry’s design. The corporate’s engineers offered a clear design for the combination of those brakes. The system’s drives additionally featured Secure Torque Off (STO) to satisfy security necessities.

To handle the problem of oily components and dripping coolant, PMD designed a sequence of drip trays, which served two functions: They saved coolant contained and prevented staff’ palms from getting into the gantry’s shifting components. Bell-Everman delivered the gantry with a bolt sample to facilitate the combination of those custom-designed trays.

The ServoBelt-powered gantry robotic can enhance security and effectivity. Supply: Bell-Everman

Outcomes: Excessive-end automation at a decrease value

The ServoBelt-powered gantry system efficiently automated the camshaft transport course of, integrating seamlessly with the present machining facilities and the shopper’s manufacturing execution programs (MES) database.

• Operational success: The gantry system now handles the whole camshaft workflow, from the preliminary uncooked clean to the ultimate floor unit.
• Security and reliability: The gantry contains many security enhancements, together with {custom} drip trays to comprise coolant and redundant brakes on the Z-axis. The gantry’s sturdy building and low upkeep necessities additionally guarantee long-term reliability.
• Price-effectiveness: By offering high-end linear motor efficiency at a considerably decrease value, ServoBelt expertise has enabled the implementation of superior automation with out the value tag of over-engineered programs. 

The ServoBelt-powered gantry now delivers the exact, high-speed automation the provider wanted whereas conserving prices underneath management. It additionally fills a essential hole available in the market, offering producers with a high-performing various to outsized programs for small to midsize payload purposes that beforehand would have required defaulting to massive, heavy-duty tools.

“What made this undertaking work was our collaborative method with Bell-Everman and their capability to satisfy our distinctive requests — that’s what received us over,” defined Stratton. “Even past simply assembly our rapid necessities, collectively we constructed one thing that might adapt and broaden as wants change.”

In regards to the creator

Parker Maccianti is lead mechanical engineer at Bell-Everman and has been with the corporate for 9 years. He has a Bachelor of Science in Mechanical Engineering from UC Irvine.

This text is posted with permission.