July/August 2019

n MACHINE BUILDING Linear transfer system speeds up multi- process inspections G efasoft, an automation system developer based in Regensburg, Germany, was commissioned to design an optical testing machine for a manufacturer of airbag diffusers. In the event of an accident, these diffusers determine the direction of airflow in the airbag. They are critical components that have to be examined and tested reliably for potential faults. The customer’s goal was to achieve an average cycle time of less than two seconds, despite there being 15 processes of varying durations.“This fast timing was a particular challenge,”recalls Gefasoft’s head of marketing, Georg Schlaffer. The optical inspection of the diffusers uses several digital cameras located at individual stations, with each inspection taking a different length of time to complete. At one station, the diffuser is rotated around a small digital camera to detect even the smallest defects on the inside. This complex process takes just under three seconds, while other test stations require just a fraction of this time. “A conventional system would be overwhelmed with such variations in test times,” Schlaffer explains. “Also, it would not be easy to add new stations, or to adapt the system to other diffuser sizes as dictated by the customer.” Based on these requirements, the use of a typical rotary indexing table was ruled out – the slowest inspection process would determine the total cycle time. A conventional system could not have met the desired flexibility in terms of additional operations and the ability to adapt the machine to the different diffuser sizes, without great difficulty. Weighty problem Another challenging element to the design was the relatively high weight of each of the system’s movers – about 4kg. To manipulate the diffusers for all-round inspection, the movers had to be equipped with lifting and rotation mechanisms. In the end, Gefasoft opted for a combination of Beckhoff’s eXtended Transport System (XTS) and HepcoMotion’s GFX guidance system. The XTS linear drive system consists of a combination of linear and rotary motor modules with integrated electronics and position detection, that are When designing a system to test airbag diffusers, a German machine-builder opted for a flexible linear transport technology that gave it the flexibility that a conventional rotary indexing table could not deliver. The resulting machine is achieving average cycle times of less than two seconds, despite there each diffuser having to undergo 15 inspection processes of varying durations. The 35 movers stop at a series of inspection stations, achieving an average cycle time of just 1.9 seconds It’s our turn. heinrichs.de TURNED PARTS | Innovative thinking – not just turning Quality is our commitment! More than 80 years of experience, competence and engagement shape the production of our turned parts in a range of Ø 2,5-Ø160 mm. Precision is found in every detail. Reliabilty and innovative capacity characterize us. everything fits

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