Robotic Welding System Welds RH and LH Models of Axle Tubes With No Changeover

A combination of flexible welding machines and robotic arc welding cells are used by a leading automotive axle manufacturer to GMAW weld the flange and brackets to tubes for pickup truck rear axles. The equipment designed and built by Weldmation includes  dual-station flange to tube welders, robotic welding cells to weld brackets to the axle tube, conveyors, ventilation and gauging equipment.

BRACKET WELDERS:

Six robotic welding cells with dial table transfers and tooling weld brackets and tubes to produce axle tube assemblies. Each cell incorporates two welding robots, a reciprocating index table, and a pair (LH & RH) of tooling fixtures. Safety fencing and arc flash guarding as well as light curtains provide operator safety.

Tooling is mounted on fixture plates designed with locating bushings for interchangeability. Integral valves and switches mounted on the fixture plate are provided with couplings and plugs designed to permit easy, error proof reconnection of utilities during tooling changeover.

Two robots each complete with welding power supply, wire feed controller, wire feed drive, water cooled torch and wire dereeler were integrated with the tooling.
 
One operator is required for each cell and is responsible for loading component parts. An automatic unloader removes the welded assembly from the tooling fixtures and unloads it onto an accumulating slat conveyor. Two slat conveyors collect the welded tube assemblies from the welding cells and transport them to a common location for inspection and packout.

FLANGE WELDERS:

Three dual-station, manually loaded and unloaded machines are used to press and weld flanges to axle tubes. The tube centerline is positioned at 20 to 30 degrees from vertical to optimize welding speed and quality. Light curtains and automatic metal closure doors provide operator safety and arc flash protection.

A flange and axle tube are loaded into the tooling fixture and the machine cycle is initiated by the operator. The hydraulic ram presses the axle tube into the flange ID. After full press is achieved, the GMAW weld nozzle pivots into position and the spindle drive starts rotation. The spindle rotates the tube 360 degrees plus required overlap during the weld of the flange to the tube. After welding, the hydraulic ram retracts and the automatic door opens allowing the operator to manually remove the welded assembly.

Each machine incorporates two welding systems each consisting of power supply, wire feed controller, wire drive, weld torch, wire dereeler and required cables and hoses.

ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT

Each machine in the system is controlled  using an independent programmable controller with color screen display. All control panels were designed with data sampling, diagnostics and to be interfaced with an in-plant data acquisition system.

Air ventilation equipment including filters, fans, a pneumatic pulse filter cleaning system and dust discharge conveyor is provided.

Electronic gauging equipment provided uses state of the art equipment to inspect dimensional and angularity characteristics of the welded axle tube assemblies. Additionally, this equipment collects and stores the measurement data and provides a variety of statistical reports.

The system was delivered as a completed project, fully tested at Weldmation in Madison Heights, Michigan.