Large Scale Pick & Place Transfer Robot

Industry: Automotive parts manufacturing

Problem: 

An automotive parts manufacturer needed a linear robotic system capable of moving an engine component part from a cleaning station off-load point to an automated inspection station locating nest. This part then needed to be transferred to an additional manufacturing work-cell. The distances between each of these pick and place points were greater than the reach of a conventional articulated arm robot. In addition, the system needed a rotary head gripper, while the traverse required lifting the part up and over an enclosure covering a plant floor walkway.

 Solution:

To meet the travel requirements of the client’s system, Macron application engineers delivered a dual X / single Z axis MGS-UC4 linear robot gantry system. Macron engineers chose this particular multi-axis system to fulfill the order based on payload requirements and the necessity to provide for a rotary head gripper mechanism, while delivering pick and place functionality.

To suit plant floor conditions, Macron delivered a custom MacBUILT steel frame structure, uniquely fabricated to fit inside the plant with existing surrounding equipment. The structure was even painted to match the plant operation’s color scheme.

 System benefits:

The heavy-duty construction and guidance of Macron’s track roller system provided a rigid structure and robust function to the X/Z axis motion for pick and place function. Due to the modular, flexible nature of belt driven systems, each axis could be sized to suit any travel length needed. The single hollow center Z-axis beam integrated into the gantry provided a natural conduit for feeding cables and airlines to an end effector.

The entire family of Macron MGS-UCX linear robots comes with integrated cable management, sensors and gearboxes ready for your motor and drive system match up.

Customer comments:

“We bought 2 Macron UC4 gantries for this line; an 11 foot and 21 foot unit. They were easy to install and ran flawlessly from start-up. We especially liked the way Macron used their standard components to construct this solid pick and place system. We can reduce our spare parts inventory, and can also be assured that Macron will always have parts on hand to expedite ship if ever needed.”