Specific Process Knowledge/Back-end processing/Polymer Injection Molder/Robot

Robot sample pickup

Once the sample has been ejected from the mold it is ready for pick-up by the robot. Once the pick-up process works without major problems it is not necessary to make adjustment. In some cases however, it may be desirable to make adjustments:

• The robot sometimes misses a sample
• The mold opening stroke or the ejector advanced position was changed
• You want to change the way the samples are placed on the conveyor belt

Be extremely careful when making changes to robot settings! Make sure you know the XYZ coordinate system of the machine before making adjustments (look inside the machine for axes references)! Make small, incremental adjustments (~1 millimeter) rather than large changes in positions to make sure you do not damage the robot or the mold! Ask DTU Danchip staff if you are in doubt about anything. The button in the bottom left corner of the screen is a toggle button that changes the entire left column of buttons between injection molding parameters and robot settings. Press it once to show robot setting icons and press it again to go back to injection molding parameter icons. When the robot icons are selected the 'Take-off' screen can be selected (press the third button from the top):

The Take-off screen contains parameters for robot positions and speeds relevant for sample removal.

• Take-off position ABC: This is the position in which the sample is picked up by the robot. Usually this is the only position that needs to be adjusted if you changed mold opening stroke, ejector pin advanced position or if the robot has problems picking up the sample.

• Mold stroke position: This value defines how far the mold opens. It should generally be avoided to open the mold all the way to the end position, since this causes the mold to bang violently into the end stop. If this happens (you hear a bang every time the mold reaches the open position) decrease the mold stroke position by a few millimeter (e.g. change the stroke from 235 mm to 232 mm). Remember that changing the opening stroke will also change to robot's take-off position, so remember to adjust the take off position accordingly.

• Sequence settings: These settings change how the robot is allowed to move around the mold. These settings should generally not be changed (be very careful if you do) to avoid crashing the robot into the mold.