Assembly of bearings

The customer wanted to optimize the process of bearing assembly. When checking the bearings, a stop at a 90 degree position is required. Additionally, it has to be possible to reach the intermediate position from both directions. Due to restricted space in the robot cell, max. dimensions for the end-effector set-up were given by the customer.

For the gripping process, SCHUNK chose the PGNplus 100. In order to achieve the rotational movement of the workpiece, SCHUNK suggested the use of the swiveling fingers GFS. Due to the compact dimensions of this unit, this does not interfere with the environment in the work cell. The GFS units had to be modified to enable the stop at the 90 degree position. In order to achieve this stop, two cylinders were mounted on the right and left side of each GFS unit. Shock absorbers are omitted. The piston of the cylinder goes through the mounting thread for the shock absorber thus limiting the swiveling angle.

The customer was able to reduce his process times by 20%. The GFS could be mounted easily to the base jaws of the PGNplus gripper thus keeping the size within the permitted dimensions. The unit has been working fine for more than one year without any failure.