INNOVATIONS: PRESENT&FUTURE
SPECIAL ISSUE ON ACE & OFF ROAD VEHICLES
Fully Automatic Coating System for Complex Gear Components Kornelius Berg VENJAKOB Maschinenbau GmbH & Co.KG - Rheda-Wiedenbrück, Germany
kberg@venjakob.de
Fully automatic coating in serial production is part of many companies’ everyday operations. Order-specific production, on the other hand, is a different matter, because small batch sizes and the variety of parts requiring coating create significant challenges for the automation system. The following is a description of a system developed by Venjakob that permits fully automatic coating of complex gear components from a batch size of 1.
T
he components requiring coating are fully machined and pre-
who managed the project. “Each of these components got their own
cleaned components for planetary and angular gears made of
programs in the plant control system. They are differentiated by
steel and aluminium. The varied range of components comprises
diameter, length, geometry, coating parameters and colour. Once the
15 different gear types of different sizes. Measurements range from
component has been identified, the system selects the corresponding
an exterior diameter of 50 mm to 350 mm, a length of 40 mm to 420
coating program and automatically completes the associated set-up,”
mm and a weight of 0.5 kg to 30 kg. The outer surface of the gear
Kornelius Berg describes the process.
component requires coating.
Component identification by bar code
Crucial controls and mechanical components
The only manual work involved is loading and removal. For each
“The particular challenge in this case was that the system had to be
requirement, a suitable number of workpiece carriers is available, on
designed for batch sizes as low as 1 and had to adapt to different
which the machine operator can place the gear components with a
gear components automatically,” explains Kornelius Berg of Venjakob,
jig for areas that should not be coated. It is not necessary to position
© Venjakob
© Venjakob
Fully automated and compact robotic coating solution for complex gear components (left) and paint supply system with integrated 2 K technology for 4 different colour cycles.
96
N. 72 - NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021 - international PAINT&COATING magazine
