MACHINERY | ROBOTS & AUTOMATION
Above: Cobots recently helped a customer to streamline its injection moulding operations
Right: Muller Technology launched new AMRs and MoMas at last year’s NPE show
seal for the upper edge of the fuse box. Parallel to the moulding process, the W832 pro also performs an assembly task and a quality check. From the moulding machine, the robot first takes the part to the assembly station. In the base of the black fuse box model running off the clock-out belt on the day of our visit, there are four small holes – which will later provide ventilation. For now, they are covered with a silicone membrane. For the quality check, Maier has installed a camera system next to the assembly station. The robot must move the part 20cm to the right. Here, the W832 pro robot’s rotary servo axes come into play – present- ing, in quick succession, three different critical points on the moulded part to the camera. The production cell is laid out to produce up to 400,000 assemblies per year. Initially, 50,000 fuse boxes for agricultural utility vehicles are being produced. How fast the numbers of units may increase is not known – partly because the cell will be used to make other complex parts. “The basic concept of the cell keeps all options open for us,” said Christoph Klement. Once the fuse boxes take off, the trays that are now being filled manually can be replaced by vibrating bowls, hoppers and separators. At this point, the equipment will be able to maintain autonomous production for up to eight hours.
Collaborative effort Cobots, a new company set up to provide collabo- rative robot automation to packaging companies, recently helped a customer to streamline its injection moulding operations. The customer needed to palletise small injec- tion-moulded trays that are used for specialised candy. The trays were moulded from clear acrylic and had to be handled carefully to avoid scuffing or damage. They had to be assembled before palletising as they were moulded in two parts. Tray and the lid were moulded in the same mould.
38 INJECTION WORLD | March/April 2025
www.injectionworld.com
“We were tasked with assembling the two parts together immediately after moulding,” said John McCormick, director of Cobots. Once assembled the assembled, trays were then conveyed to its robotic palletiser system – which placed the trays into layers onto the pallet with tiers sheets between each layer. The full pallet was then fed out of the system for transport to the wrapper system and eventually the warehouse. Collaborative robots – also called co-bots – are designed to work alongside human workers, helping them with a variety of tasks. They can address labour shortages by assisting workers with repetitive tasks, increasing productivity and reducing injury risks. Cobots is the sister company of Proco Machin-
ery, which makes automation systems for the blow moulding industry.
Autonomous robots Muller Technology launched several new automa- tion solutions at last year’s NPE show. It says it has expanded beyond traditional
downstream automation, offering new autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) and mobile manipulators (MoMas) which improve productivity, reduce OSHA recordable events, and can run continuously. “With our latest product line and service
offerings, we are empowering plastics manufactur- ers to unlock new levels of efficiency, productivity, and profitability,” said Carsten Eisenkrämer, group CEO at Muller Technology. Muller’s MoMa is an AMR combined with a
collaborative robot (cobot) including a vision- based end-of-arm tool. They can operate in microprocessor cleanrooms, offering efficiency, productivity, accuracy and cost reductions. The MoMa automates the transportation of goods and complex operations such as picking items from
IMAGE: COBOTS
IMAGE: MULLER
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