Dispensing Above the Rest--Gantry Robots

Humans use their arms for a mul­ti­tude of tasks. Like­wise, robot­ic arms need the free­dom of move­ment around a part, espe­cial­ly if they are involved in a dis­pens­ing process. The two most pop­u­lar types of dis­pens­ing robots are the XYZ Gantry mod­el and the 6‑axis mod­el. The gantry mod­el has a low ini­tial cost with quick returns on investment. 

Gantry robots con­sist of a manip­u­la­tor mount­ed into an over­head sys­tem allow­ing hor­i­zon­tal move­ment. This ensures bet­ter posi­tion­ing accu­ra­cy as the robot dis­pens­es. Gantry robots are easy to pro­gram since the X,Y, Z coor­di­nate sys­tem is less lim­it­ed by floor space. Gantry robots are also aid­ed by grav­i­ty; since dis­pens­ing is a down­ward motion, objects are eas­i­ly deposit­ed from an over­head position.

A KUKA KR 16 robot was recent­ly select­ed by Delta Sig­ma Cor­po­ra­tion (DSC) to be com­bined with a gantry robot. The KR 16 robot arm is used in the new gantry dis­pens­ing sys­tem, with a focus on user-friend­ly con­trol. KUKA’s KR 30 mod­el is capa­ble of low to medi­um diverse appli­ca­tions. Pay­load and reach tools are eas­i­ly mod­i­fied due to the mod­u­lar design of the robot. A vari­a­tion of the KR 30, the KR 30 L16, is a longer arm reach ver­sion of the same robot. It can be mount­ed either on the floor, or to con­serve space, in the ceiling.

Since floor space is a val­ued com­mod­i­ty, Fanuc devel­oped the M‑16iB/T gantry dis­pens­ing robot mod­el that works from an over­head track. This way, the major­i­ty of floor space is freed up, since only two track posts are posi­tioned on the floor. The M‑16iB/​T is designed for light to medi­um applications.

Motoman​’s HP20T robot, designed for invert-mount­ing, boasts a slim design which enables it to be placed near work­pieces. It can col­lab­o­rate with up to four oth­er HP20T robots, yield­ing excep­tion­al pro­duc­tiv­i­ty. It also offers the widest work enve­lope com­pared with oth­er sim­i­lar models.

One arm can reach a long way and com­plete a large amount of dis­pens­ing! Robots​.com car­ries a vari­ety of gantry dis­pens­ing robots at a reduced price. For more infor­ma­tion, or a price quote, con­tact us today at 877−762−6881.