Application of the hottest vacuum technology in au

The application of vacuum technology in automobile logistics

in the four major processes of automobile body manufacturing - stamping, welding, coating and final assembly, vacuum system is most used in stamping workshop. With the continuous acceleration of production pace, how can the latest vacuum technology meet the continuous strict requirements of stamping technology and ensure that materials are transported to the appropriate station at the right time

with the further improvement of customers' requirements for the quality of automotive products, the application of automation technology in automotive enterprises will be higher and higher. The popularization of automation in automotive enterprises will improve the production efficiency of equipment and further reduce the production cost of single products. At the same time, vacuum technology will be more and more widely used in automobile production enterprises, and vacuum technology will be more stable, fast and easy to monitor and maintain

in the four major processes of automobile body manufacturing - stamping, welding, painting and final assembly, the stamping workshop is the most widely used vacuum system. In the stamping workshop, the vacuum generator is mainly used to generate vacuum, suck the workpiece through the vacuum suction cup, and cooperate with the conveying device (manipulator, fast feeding device, etc.) to carry out the transportation between stations in the occasions of automatic loading and unloading

at present, the vacuum system mainly includes: vacuum sucker, vacuum generator, control valve, connecting parts, installation parts and other components, of which the most critical are vacuum sucker and vacuum generator

vacuum sucker

vacuum sucker is the part that directly contacts the workpiece in the automation system, and it is also the most critical part. With the continuous development of the automotive industry, the requirements for production efficiency are constantly improving, and the speed of the conveying device is also getting faster and faster. At the same time, the steel plate that is pressed will be cleaned and oiled in advance. This requires that the vacuum suction cup must be able to bear a strong lateral force to prevent slippage relative to the absorbed workpiece in the process of handling, so as to ensure that the workpiece can be accurately positioned when it is sent to the next station without waste parts

based on this demand, SCHMALZ developed a special suction cup for the automotive industry. SCHMALZ's special suction cup for the automotive industry has less than 1/3 of the total volume and is equipped with internal support, which will not cause deformation to the aluminum or sheet commonly used in automotive production, and the volume that needs to be vacuumized is smaller. In addition, the internal structure of the special suction cup with special design makes it unaffected when it is used for horizontal force, which is suitable for oily surfaces and various strong dynamic handling

vacuum generator

the stamping line operates 24 hours a day in three shifts, and each shift requires the replacement of new fixtures two to three times. If the vacuum fixture on the robot is imperceptibly damaged, such as vacuum leakage in the system. Then, with the increase of vacuum leakage, stamping parts will not be able to handle, causing damage. Sometimes even a subsystem will collapse, leading to the stagnation of the whole stamping line, causing great economic losses

in September 2004, SCHMALZ developed a new type of vacuum generator - x-pump. The biggest advantage of SCHMALZ x-pump is that it has a very powerful state monitoring function, which can monitor the operation of the on-site vacuum system as a local manufacturer and supplier, detect leaks and errors in time, and automatically start the protection function to ensure that the workpiece does not fall. SCHMALZ x-pump has been tested in many factories such as Mercedes Benz and BMW in Germany, with excellent results, and has been officially introduced to the global market. Compared with previous vacuum generators, the outstanding characteristics of x-pump can be summarized into three major performances:

it is particularly powerful. The vacuum generator has strong suction capacity and strong blowing pulse, so it can maximize its practicality

special strength. The vacuum generator has the characteristics of integrated design, compactness, simple equipment connection, and sensitivity to soil and dust (in line with IP65 environmental protection standard)

it is particularly intelligent. The integrated "real-time monitoring" diagnostic function of x-pump makes preventive maintenance possible. It can intelligently detect faults before the system breaks down, and can provide preventive maintenance with a very decadent prospect. Therefore, x-pump can detect any upcoming vacuum fixture failure, evaluate and display this hidden danger

for this reason, the x-pump is equipped with an intuitive and visible optical LED indicator - which works like a mini traffic light. With these indicators, the stamping operator can see the working state of the vacuum fixture or the operating state of the whole vacuum system at a glance. In other words, after replacing the fixture, the damaged vacuum fixture will no longer be used

in the past, to identify the damaged vacuum fixture, it was necessary to wait until the whole production line was shut down before identifying the damaged vacuum fixture and repairing it. After using a new generation of vacuum generator - x-pump, the stamping operator can take corresponding measures according to the system operation state shown by the vacuum generator indicator. If problems are found, the stamping operator can immediately inform the maintenance department according to the operation status displayed on the x-pump. When the stamping line changes the fixture or workpiece, the maintenance personnel can start to repair the fault, which can reduce the maintenance workload and reduce the cost

real time monitoring

in addition to making it easier for the operator to understand the operation state of the vacuum fixture, x-pump has more real-time monitoring functions:

turn off the automatic throttle function

if the vacuum leakage deteriorates in the production process (for example, the vacuum leakage rate exceeds the allowable leakage rate of the system), the real-time monitoring system will display this condition through the system operation status indicator (green light flashing). At the same time, The monitoring system will turn off the automatic throttle function, so that the vacuum generator can continuously generate enough vacuum to compensate for the leakage, so that the system can continue to work, and the damaged vacuum fixture can be accurately monitored and repaired during the normal pause of the next stamping line

diagnostic information can be output to the external monitoring system

the monitoring information provided by the x-pump multiple diagnostic function can be transmitted to a control unit outside the vacuum system, such as a robot or a higher-level system (production process control room), so the external control unit has an overall understanding of the operation state of the vacuum system, making the production process more reliable

leader of handling system

as a leader in vacuum components for the manufacturing industry and a set of handling system solutions that can sensitively capture market changes at the same time, SCHMALZ is a modern, future oriented company with many years of successful experience in the field of vacuum technology

for many years, SCHMALZ has been committed to providing comprehensive and cost-effective system solutions for the manufacturing industry. In order to communicate more directly with Chinese users and provide more perfect technical support and services, SCHMALZ company established German Schmitz (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. in Shanghai in August 2005 to further promote the solution of SCHMALZ's vacuum components and a complete handling system in China, so as to provide higher quality services for SCHMALZ customers in China

at the same time, as an expert in the field of vacuum automation, SCHMALZ can not only provide vacuum parts, but also provide systematic vacuum solutions that meet various special needs. Because of this, the vacuum technology of SCHMALZ is widely used all over the world and is respected by major automobile manufacturers all over the world. (end)