Delta Articulated Robots Enhance Productivity of Machine Tool Automatic Feeding and Unloading

Feeding and unloading is an important process on production lines. The traditional manual feeding and unloading of injection machines and CNC lathes often cause deviations of the gripper positions due to metal fillings on work pieces. This decreases machining precision of subsequent processes, and affects production efficiency and overall quality. To enhance the stability of feeding and unloading, Delta has built an automation solution with industrial robots and purging units that prevents metal fillings from sticking and improves product quality. The solution also adopts high-speed algorithms for flexible control that are based on the actual amount of work pieces, and that maintains robot and feeding tray positions to avoid collisions. The automation solution greatly lowers direct labor costs, elevates productivity, and provides excellent processing quality for a wide range of industrial applications.

Delta recently implemented the automatic feeding and unloading equipment in a motor production line. The industrial robot is installed on the CNC lathes for processing motor cases. It precisely feeds, unloads and cleans the metal fillings to achieve automatic, flexible and efficient production. The Delta Articulated Robot DRV Series is installed on a slide table to flexibly feed and unload the motor work pieces to the lathe, and clean the remaining fillings afterwards. The Robot Controller DCV Series precisely controls the operation of the robot via Ethernet communication and connection with other Delta IA products to ensure smooth operation, enhance productivity, and shorten feeding and unloading time. The device also adopts the Compact Modular Mid-range PLC AS Series and the Delta AC Servo Drive & Motor ASDA-A2 Series to control and drive the motion of the slide table. This effectively enlarges the working range of the robot, and precisely controls the position of the feeding tray for operation. The Delta Human Machine Interface DOP Series is used as a unified operation interface for the DCV Series and AS Series.

To meet the requirements of manufacturing automation and smart manufacturing, Delta integrates industrial robots and IA products into a flexible, precise and automatic feeding and unloading solution for the motor production line. In actual application, the solution brings about the following benefits:

• Excellent performance to precisely position work pieces
The Delta Articulated Robot DRV Series adjusts the deviation of X and Y-axis between the robotic arm and feeding tray through a user coordination system. It automatically calculates each feeding position with a matrix algorithm. If the robot coordination system is not parallel to the direction of the tray, it automatically adjusts to ensure the consistency of gripping angle.

• Easy-to-use human machine interface for simple operation
With the built-in Ethernet communication, the Delta Human Machine Interface DOP Series is able to simultaneously control the Robot Controller DCV Series for robotic gripping work, and the Compact Modular Mid-range PLC AS Series for the motion of the slide table. The graphic icon display of the DOP Series allows the operator to set the work piece amount with ease and auto-switches the robot position for flexible, agile and versatile production.

• Complete integration into suitable solutions for various applications
The solution completely applies Delta's IA products for stable system operation and easy maintenance. In addition to their solution for machine tool industry, Delta can also switch products based on different industrial requirements to ensure the best manufacturing quality.

The automatic feeding and unloading solution features industrial robots that perform risky and repetitive work. It saves labor costs, enhances production flexibility, and shortens working hours. This highly efficient solution provides multiple advantages for achieving the goals of production automation and smart manufacturing.