Intelligent retraction system avoids failures of industrial robots

Profile

• What was needed: triflex R energy chain; triflex RS universal module
• Requirements: a solution should be found to avoid the winding or snagging of the long corrugated hose of an industrial robot.
• Industry: robotics; machine tools
• Success for the customer: a triflex® RS retraction module releases just as much cable length as required. As a result, the cable guidance is always tight without restricting the movement of the robot.

This FANUC industrial robot equips machine tools. It was equipped with a new triflex® RS retraction module.

Problem

The Estonian company Atemix Tööstusautomaatika OÜ deals with the automation of factories, with Industry 4.0 solutions and robot applications clearly in the foreground. For a new project, the automated assembly of a machining centre should be solved using a FANUC industrial robot. And although the interaction of machine tools and robotics is not unusual, this application presented a special hurdle. The cable guidance for feeding the robot head with energy and data was solved using a long corrugated hose. Since it could not be guided close to the robot, the hose regularly hung in the work area during the backward movements and blocked the work process - automation was out of the question.

Solution

In order to prevent the corrugated hose from wrapping itself around the robot or getting caught in the machine when it is being driven in and out, those responsible for the project looked for a new way for the guidance of the cable. The key to success here was the use of a retraction system that pulls in the cables when the robot head is retracted and releases them again when the robot head is in the extended position. The triflex® RS retraction system that is now mounted on the industrial robot enables tight-fitting cables without restricting the movement of the system. The strain on the cables during fast and complex 3D movements is eliminated. In addition, there are no longer any sensitive cable elements in the work area and the previously high risk of failure and complex maintenance work are now a thing of the past.

Before: The long corrugated hose formed a loop that often hung in the work area. There was a high risk of the cable guidance winding around the robot or getting caught in the machine tool.

After: Thanks to the retraction module, the cable guidance fits snugly without restricting the robot's movement.