Multi-Axis Handling Gantry

MOVIPRO^® is an innovative drive solution for applications in the automotive industry.
The system makes optimum use of the available space at the machine, offering flexibility and reliability. Minimum maintenance and simple handling in terms of operation and servicing give you the security that your machines and equipment are more efficient right from their first run.

Representation of a multi-axis handling gantry using MOVIPRO^® units.

Two travel carriages move along the gantry in the direction of the material flow. The first travel carriage picks up various car body parts at the upstream materials handling technology and conveys them to the processing station. The processing station consists of a rotary table and several welding robots, whose task is to weld together the individual body parts.

A further drive and positioning control system positions the rotary table in such a way that the robots reach the specified welding spot quickly.

Once the car body is completed within the processing cell, the second travel carriage picks it up, rotates it by 90 degrees and then sets it down again on the materials handling technology outside the gantry.   A total of five MOVIPRO® units carry out the adjustment of the individual axes of the travel carriages.   The tasks of the decentralized drive and positioning control system MOVIPRO® in this application are the feed motion along the x-axis (longitudinal), raising and lowering along the z-axis and rotation around the w-axis.

Advantages of decentralized design

An important advantage of decentralized design is that the motor and encoder cables of the travel carriages do not have to be included in the cable carrier. All that is required is the voltage supply (400 V, 24 V) and the fieldbus. There are many advantages to decentralized technology: it requires fewer and shorter cables and much less space in the control cabinet. While a conventional design requires a control cabinet on the access platform to the travel carriages, this requirement is totally eliminated with the decentralized version. This means the entire platform can be narrower. This gives rise to a further advantage – the space that is saved directly in the application.

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