New planning tools for assembly systems

By Niraj M Wanikar, Chief Editor, CNCTimes.com, 2015-08-19 12:06:31

SCHUNK’s line of modules for high-performance assembly offers more than 10,000 possible combinations for unique freedom of design and flexibility in the planning of assembly systems. Especially for design engineers and system planners SCHUNK, the competence leader for clamping technology and gripping systems has now issued two updates for the time-proven planning tools "Kombibox" and "Toolbox", which feature many new options in the selection and design of modules.

1,700 new combinations

The Kombibox, which enables the fast and easy determination of which components are optimally compatible, has been expanded to allow more than 1,700 new combinations. All new products, such as the SCHUNK MPG-plus and EGP small component grippers, the SCHUNK ELB and HLM stroke modules or the SCHUNK Beta and Delta linear modules are now integrated in the tool. At the press of a button users can determine both the suitable adapter plates and the required centering elements and DIN screws. As soon as the desired combination is defined, the Kombibox determines the required assembly accessories, including all standard parts and calculates the position coordinates of the combined modules.

The software modules of the Toolbox series have also been significantly expanded, in order to facilitate the design of the single modules. "Toolbox Pick & Place", a new tool for selecting the SCHUNK PPU-P Pick & Place units and the SCHUNK DRL rotary lift units, automatically determines cycle times and maximum cycles, without the necessity of poring over data sheets. Moreover, "Toolbox Rotation" has been expanded to include innovations such as the SCHUNK RST-D rotary indexing table and "Toolbox Translation" now includes new stroke variants of the SCHUNK CLM linear modules.

Avoidance of over-dimensioning

The software tools make it possible to fully utilize the high performance of the single components and to avoid the high expense of over-dimensioning. Both the payload of the guidances and the shock absorbers as well as the cycle times can be calculated. Also, the utilization of the hydraulic end position damping for the single linear and rotary modules can be determined on the basis of all parameters occurring during operation.

This saves time and increases planning reliability. All calculation tools are based on Excel 2003, intuitive to use and generally require no installation. Queries are possible in six languages (German, English, French, Spanish, Italian, and Hungarian). The calculated module data can be downloaded directly from the internet as ready-to-use CAD models.

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