VACUUM & MANUAL MANIPULATORS | TECHNOLOGY REPORT
demand Piab is satisfying by continuously improving its already best in class vacuum generation products. As COAX ejectors are up to twice as fast as other ejectors and deliver three times more flow than a conventional ejector with identical air consumption, Piab’s vacuum pumps can deliver high performance even with low or fluctuating supply pressure. This makes them particularly energy efficient and reduces the cost of providing compressed air and thus the total cost of production. This information is based on the result of independent comparison tests conducted by the Fraunhofer Institute for Machine Tools and Forming Technology IWU in Dresden that have shown the Piab ejectors require significantly lower compressed air to achieve the same output compared to ejectors from other manufacturers.” With the vast number of applications and possible solutions what customers are really after says Karbassi is technical consultancy to help them chose the right automation products for each of their specific applications. “We have a lot of customers turning
to us because their first trials automating processes failed as they did not find the best possible solution for their respective tasks. We always appreciate the opportunity to get a thorough understanding of each customer’s application to ensure the offer we prepare matches the requirements and meets or exceeds the original expectations,” he says. “The trend for further automation
will continue with a stronger interaction between different technologies and levels of automation. While we have seen a rapid increase in demand for robotic automation in tedious and heavy manual handling applications such as order fulfilment, de- palletizing and singulation of parcels the
R Schmalz Match
real dawn is forecasted for this year with up to 620,000 logistic robot unit shipments by this year,” adds Karbassi. “Robots will be more common in new industries outside the manufacturing industry. The logistics and warehouses are a good example as are the service industry and health care. “In the manufacturing industry new use
cases will evolve. At this moment we see this happening for EV/HEV vehicles where large numbers of batteries and battery packs need to be produced, handled, and assembled with robot assistance. Vision guided robot systems will see a big demand in new industries with a more unstructured environment as found in random bin picking application of mixed containers. The same goes for collaborative robots that can work side-by-side with humans lowering the threshold to invest in robot automation. More mobile robot application will evolve, especially when operators of brown-field plants want to increase their degree of automation to maintain competitiveness,” adds Karbassi. “Vacuum as a basis for gripping will gain momentum. It is a low-cost, easy to use and very reliable technology. To set-up and program, a robot will become even easier going forward. Today, software support modules in robot controllers already exists for specific grippers and applications making it much easier to start-up operations and also to implement changes in the robot program further down the line.”
R Schmalz VacuMaster Comfort 32 | July 2021 |
www.hoistmagazine.com
SCHMALZ REVISES VACUMASTER COMFORT Schmalz manufactures robotic vacuum automation products, robotic end-of-arm vacuum gripper tools, material handling vacuum lifters and manipulators as well as CNC vacuum clamping tools.
Gary Vickerson, VP, Operations, Schmalz,
says the company is re-investing 8% of annual revenues every year back into R&D, hiring and training apprentices and is looking to bring continued growth to the industry in the coming years. Since the recession in 2009, it has grown at high double-digit rates every year for the last 12 years driven by the increased automation found in warehouse logistics and manufacturing at some leading US manufacturers and e-commerce retailers. It recently revised its vacuum lifting
device VacuMaster Comfort for loads up to max. 750 kg with an optimised operating unit in an ergonomic design and a newly designed control panel, so that the user can operate its vacuum lifting device more comfortably and intuitively. The ergonomically shaped, wide
operating handle reduces the effort required for handling and the user-friendly operation has a control unit with two rows of buttons: The user can clearly assign the individual functions using coloured buttons which have symbols on them to reduce the risk of operating errors. The user activates the vacuum with
the green control button and deactivates it by pressing the two red switches simultaneously. The grey travel sensor controls the up and down movement of the chain hoist in two speeds each. Depending on the version, the user of the lifting aid activates the swivelling (VacuMaster Comfort 90), turning (VacuMaster Comfort 180) or rotating (VacuMaster Window Comfort) of the load with the blue button. And if something should go wrong, Schmalz has installed an emergency stop switch centrally, which can be used to stop the up and down movement and, if necessary, the rotating, swivelling or turning movement.
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