Automated Plastic Routing with Robots

Instead of hand-held rout­ing, tool paths can be con­trolled via CNC routers or robot­ic automa­tion. This type of rout­ing increas­es through­put and decreas­es costs for plas­tics manufacturers.

Fanuc-based robots are used in the RPT RoboT­rim router trim­ming solu­tion. Robot­ic Pro­duc­tion Tech­nol­o­gy has cre­at­ed 15 mod­els of the RoboT­rim, includ­ing the RT-400, designed specif­i­cal­ly for the plas­tics indus­try. The RT-400 is portable and can be used by ther­mo­form­ers, injec­tion mold­ers, blow mold­ers, and rota­tion­al mold­ers. A ser­vo-con­trolled table rotates the part while the robot is trim­ming, allow­ing each side of the part to be trimmed in a com­pact work cell. This mod­el uses a Fanuc-based R‑44A 6‑axis robot.

The high reli­a­bil­i­ty, improved flex­i­bil­i­ty, and enhanced safe­ty are the key ben­e­fits to the RoboT­rim rout­ing solu­tion. Robot­ic Pro­duc­tion Tech­nol­o­gy con­tin­ues to dom­i­nate the plas­tics mar­ket with new prod­ucts such as the RoboT­rim RT-400.

To solve the prob­lem of machin­ing plas­tic tops, Encobotics cre­at­ed a coor­di­nat­ed motion rout­ing cell with quick-change tool­ing, called the Robo-Router. This plas­tics rout­ing cell fea­tures the KUKA KR6 6‑axis robot. The robot loads the plas­tic tops onto vac­u­um fix­tures that are eas­i­ly main­tained for an extreme­ly cost-effec­tive appli­ca­tion. The Robo-Router cut pro­duc­tion time in half, elim­i­nat­ed scrap parts, cut the cost of pro­cess­ing, and enhanced the actu­al product. 

Using robots from com­pa­nies such as Fanuc and KUKA help elim­i­nate unnec­es­sary costs, as well as speed pro­duc­tion times, for plas­tics rout­ing because they have been proven brand names to design and pro­duce some of the world’s best robots. Robots​.com pro­vides Inte­gra­tion-Ready Fanuc, KUKA, Motoman, and ABB robots and can help you choose the right rout­ing robot for your needs. For more infor­ma­tion about automat­ing removal with Robots​.com, con­tact us today online or at 877−762−6881.