So much for so little

Robots may all look the same, but in fact they are not. Convinced of this, Star Automation Europe at the K 2013 (hall 11, stand G74) introduces some products able to change the way to automate the manufacturing processes, focusing on quality and reduction in the investments. For this purpose, two robots in the SWA range are exhibited: the servo assisted SWA-150S model, for the picking of sprues, and the SWA-3K-R5 model with 3-kg useful load, for the extraction of moulded components. The main feature of both models, currently supplied for injection moulding machines with clamping force up to 200 tons, is to be very rapid and accurate in the open mould. A productive cell based on an eWW10Pi from BMB, equipped with a mould for the manufacturing of two thin wall food containers, has been set up to show the potentials of the SWA-3K-R5 model.
The new top-entry Y-3 robot goes in the same direction, with the aim of increasing the deposit area beside the injection moulding machine, to the advantage of higher productive flexibility and freedom in the mould area, to favour the maintenance and the replacement of the moulds themselves.
This robot, designed for injection moulding machines with clamping force between 100 and 350 tons, allows to override the traverse axis and release the product beside the clamping unit or the injection unit indifferently. This allows to vacate both areas of access to the mould, from the operator side and from the opposite side. The Y-3 model with "T" shaped traverse, in fact, allows a space up to 4 times wider to release the product or to serve ancillary equipment in comparison to a top-entry robot.
Moreover, at the BMB stand the high speed side-entry S7 Flex IML robot is running on an  eKW35Pi injection moulding machine producing a 5-litre bucket in a short cycle time. This robot is characterized by the very fast production changeover from the IML on truncated-conical articles to the IML on lids and rectangular containers, still ensuring high performances (minimal cycle times from 3 to 5 s).
Instead, at the Toyo Europe stand, the S7 Flex IML System is installed on a SI-450IV injection moulding machine manufacturing a 10-litre truncated-conical container. The aim is to offer, also in this case, a demonstration of the high flexibility in the production changeover regardless of the article to be moulded. This is possible thanks to the flexibility and the modularity of the S7 range, configurable according to the different productive requirements.