Dec 2, 2015

Güdel AG, leading manufacturer of linear, drive and system technology, offers the right solution for each front-of-line, between-press, and end-of-line sub-process. The company's years of experience in the field of press automation have enabled it to develop an in-house competence center for press lines in the automotive sector.

Güdel's automation concept is based on tried and tested standard components, which are manufactured at the company's own production facilities at its headquarters in Langenthal, Switzerland. Due to our particularly high level of vertical integration and modular design, the components are a perfect fit with each other.

The Güdel blank destackers are designed for steel and aluminum blanks. After the blank carriage has been loaded up, the spreading magnets are manually or automatically activated. The non-magnetic blanks are separated from the others with the help of well-aimed blasts of air and our patented, mechanical pre-separation units. Where necessary, the blanks are cleaned and/or oiled. So that the blanks are inserted in the correct position in the first press station, the blank position is recorded by an optical scanner and aligned on the adjacent, low-maintenance centering station.

Güdel offers a choice of three products in the press linking sector. A twin-arm transfer device ('roboBeam'), and two single-arm transfer devices ('roboFeeder' and 'roboSpeed'). The transfer devices differ in terms of their output rates, distance between press centers and maximum payload. The transfer devices ensure that the components are swiftly transferred from press to press without intermediate stacking. The blanks can be shifted against the direction of flow during the transfer, if necessary.

A variety of stacking systems for finished parts can be used, depending on the customer's wishes and the necessary output rate. There are also three possibilities available for this sub-process, graded according to the respective degree of automation. Our spectrum of products ranges from a simple outlet conveyor, where the parts are manually removed from the belt; a semi-automatic system, which ergonomically positions the parts on the corresponding outlet conveyor for manual stacking; right through to a fully automated system, where the finished parts are automatically stacked in parts containers after the quality control.

The automation devices – from front-of line and press automation right through to end of line – can be customized with a variety of different tool holding devices, in order to guarantee compatibility with existing tools. The benefits of Güdel's solutions are clear: they help save resources and markedly increase the production rate of the entire system, meaning that customers can make more efficient use of the press lines.