African Fusion March 2017

Yaskawa robotic spot welding cell

Yaskawa has developed a compact and flexible system for high-speed robot-based spot welding. The modular solu- tion comprises a cell with positioner and two spot welding robots; particularly lightweight spotweld- ing guns; a nut welding machine and a full range of accessories. Modern industrial spot welding solutions

T he success of an idea comes from an approach that undermines tradition. Yaskawa, sure of the high quality of its products, took this approach to go beyond robots and to create a complete spot welding solu- tion that has revamped the company’s automotive and vehicle-manufacturing offering. Today, Yaskawa is able to design, build, install and service robot-based production cells that meet the highest standards in terms of technology and innovation. The company’s new spot welding solution is a fully integrated welding system with a positioner and

common base making it a single moveable machine. • Easy to install: very little set-up time by the customer is required and there is no re-teaching requirement once the system arrives on site. • Easy to programwith an ergonomic working position for the operator. • Flexible concept: The system is 100% flexible and 100% customisable. • The onboard robot at the front can easily load the item without inter- ference. • It is faster than ever, giving savings with respect to cycle time. At the start of the ordering process for a Yaskawa spot welding system is a turnkey design and selection process, starting with the analysis of the specifi- cations. Pre-design and drafting of the proposal then proceeds, followed by the layout of a solution and simulation of its use. The process takes full advantage of lean manufacturing and traceability to give the shortest production times possible. Following line assembly and installation, the system will be inspect- ed, tested and commissioned. Ongoing maintenance and spares are also avail- ableworldwide, to ensure reliability and minimum downtime. Spot welding gun range The new range of spot welding guns for the system was developed to be excep- tionally lightweight. Carefully designed down to the smallest detail, these en-

The nut-welding system can be attached to the right or left of the spot welding cell with a dedicated handling robot (MH5) attached to the side structure. onboard robots. It is availablewith small welding robots (MS and VS Series), Yas- kawa’s light welding gun, alongwith jigs and a nut-welding machine. The innovation is aholistic approach to spot welding, one that focuses on solving problems rather than supplying individually branded products. The advantages of thismodern spot welding solution for users include: • The compact footprint: space sav- ings up to 40% can be achieved. • Full control of the solution, thanks to all of the tooling and equipment coming from a single source, ie, Yaskawa. • Improved accessibility to the parts being welded. • Easy to move: the system is on a

The non- pneumatic

spot welding guns consist of only three components:

the gun body, a transformer and the motor.

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March 2017

AFRICAN FUSION