Customer Success StoryA perfect solu­tion for the future

Clever solu­tions are some­times needed very quickly. Solu­tions like the new system from EMAG LaserTec. It applies a hard metal coating to brake disks using laser depo­si­tion welding. The tech­nology is urgently needed because it prevents abra­sion and thus partic­u­late matter from being produced during the braking process. The parti­cles are hazardous to health. This is why the new Euro 7 emis­sions stan­dard will regu­late all vehicle emis­sions from newly regis­tered cars from 2027 – including wear and tear from brakes and tires. So, speed is of the essence. When selecting the compo­nents, the EMAG devel­op­ment team there­fore relied on SCHUNK Engi­neering. Thanks to this effi­cient process, EMAG was able to obtain precisely tailored compo­nents for its specific require­ments in the shortest possible time.

PLG long-stroke gripper on an inte­grated handling system

“We launched the ELC 450 LMD so that our customers can meet the require­ments for the brake disk of the future. It uses ‘Laser Metal Depo­si­tion’ (LMD) to apply a two-layer coating to the brake disk, which makes it prac­ti­cally imper­vious to wear and corro­sion, while signif­i­cantly reducing fine dust emis­sions,” confirms Martin Fritz, Devel­op­ment Team Leader at EMAG LaserTec in Heubach. “SCHUNK provided us with signif­i­cant support in real­izing the auto­mated compo­nent feed to the laser cell in a compact and reli­able process, and with a spec­i­fied cycle rate. The pneu­matic long-stroke gripper PLG is used in conjunc­tion with GFS universal swivel fingers – this is a convincing handling solu­tion for us in the new machine.” The EMAG design engi­neers installed the long-stroke gripper on a line gantry in the ELC. “We were able to dispense with a classic robot for compo­nent feeding, because there is no room for it in this cramped work­space,” says Martin Fritz, explaining the ELC envi­ron­ment. “The existing linear handling from EMAG and the SCHUNK PLG gripper together with GFS swivel fingers result in ideal kine­matics for the brake disk infeed and outfeed.”

PLG with GFS feeds the brake disks into the coating cell

The compact loading and unloading solu­tion in the work­space of the ELC 450 LMD DUO proves to be robust in the oper­a­tion of two laser cells. The PLG starts its work at the roller conveyor by picking up the pre-centered gray cast-iron brake disk, which weighs around 30 kilo­grams. It will have been cleaned, weighed, and preheated to about 300 degrees Celsius in upstream processes, and can be fed to the roller conveyor in manual, semi-auto­mated, or fully auto­mated mode. The PLG now guides the hori­zontal disk to the mounting spindle of the first laser cell. This is where a stain­less-steel corro­sion protec­tion layer is applied. After the hermet­i­cally sealed laser unit has released the disk, the PLG lifts it off the spindle and turns it using GFS swivel fingers before placing it back on the arbor. The second side of the disk receives its corro­sion protec­tion layer next. When the first laser station has finally released the disk, the handling system moves to the next station above the suction funnel. The disk is also turned over above the funnel, in order to vacuum it on both sides. Finally, the PLG feeds the disk hori­zon­tally to the second laser station, where the hard carbide layer is welded in on both sides.

In the two cells of the ELC 450 LMD DUO, the coating mate­rial is fed in as a powder and fused onto the compo­nent surface by laser. After a total of four coating processes – two disk sides and two cells – the brake disk is ready to be unloaded. Inline quality assur­ance measures, such as a layer thick­ness sensor, ensure the sepa­ra­tion of NOK parts inte­grated into the process. The PLG brings the finished coated brake disks to the exit point from the ELC work­space on the corre­sponding roller conveyors for parts removal; down­stream processes then take place.

Defined spec­i­fi­ca­tions are quickly fulfilled thanks to online config­u­ra­tion

“Our spec­i­fi­ca­tions for the gripper in this new machine concept were very clearly defined,” summa­rizes Martin Fritz: a long stroke for a disk-shaped compo­nent with a diam­eter of 250 to 500 millime­ters, force for a work­piece weighing around 30 to 50 kilo­grams, a grip­ping height of around 10 to 45 millime­ters, and suffi­ciently robust for an envi­ron­ment with residual metal dust. “The ELC’s tight work­space set further constraints,” says the Devel­op­ment Team Leader. “The solu­tion has got to be compact. We want the compo­nent to be fed and discharged in a hori­zontal posi­tion, and the open gripper stroke always to move in the process direc­tion. Freedom of setup across a defined range of work­pieces is also a require­ment, because we want to be able to grip all disk sizes with just one set of jaws. We also need safety: analog moni­toring of the jaw stroke provides us with a way of knowing imme­di­ately whether the correct work­piece is being gripped. Last but not least, swiveling should be quick.”

The bench­mark is scope for future devel­op­ment

A sophis­ti­cated machine concept for the brake disk produc­tion of the future requires equally sophis­ti­cated compo­nents. It quickly became clear that the newly intro­duced long-stroke gripper from SCHUNK was the right solu­tion. “Config­uring the gripper together with Jürgen Kolbus here at the desk made the work much easier, and saved a lot of time,” confirms Martin Fritz. “It took only a few minutes, and we had our CAD. After less than an hour, we were able to see directly in the Design depart­ment whether every­thing fitted.” Special solu­tions in indus­trial manu­fac­turing are often asso­ci­ated with high costs and long delivery times. SCHUNK’s quickly config­urable product ranges are the answer to this problem: customers receive an indi­vidual, afford­able solu­tion quickly, even for small batch sizes and high demands. The GFS swivel fingers with a swiveling time of only 0.8 seconds were the deciding factor for EMAG in choosing this solu­tion: “The GFS fingers from SCHUNK were the best solu­tion for the specific process,” empha­sizes Martin Fritz. EMAG installed the PLG with size 50 in the ELC 450 LMD DUO, and met all the spec­i­fi­ca­tions with it.

A complete, fully auto­mated process in the coating system takes just under four minutes. Reduced setup and idle times, 24/7 automa­tion, fast cycle rates – for EMAG, the new laser appli­ca­tion system must meet the high quan­tity require­ments resulting from the entry into force of the Euro 7 stan­dard. The PLG in combi­na­tion with the GFS swivel fingers signif­i­cantly supports this objec­tive – in terms of quality, safety, and speed of the process.