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. Keep the speed at 60% or below.

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.

• Moving-in positions 1 and 2: Two intermediate positions between the home position (the waiting position of the robot when it's idle). It is usually not necessary to change them. To improve reliability of the pick-up it is however recommended that:
• The Y coordinate of 'Moving-in position 2' is identical to the Y coordinate of 'Take-off position'
• The Z coordinate of 'Moving-in position 2' is identical to the Y coordinate of 'Take-off position'

• Take-off position XYZ: 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.

• Moving-out positions 1 and 2: Scroll down to see these settings. After sample pick-up the robot movement is also defined by two intermediate positions before the robot goes to the deposit position (placing sample on the conveyor belt). For simplicity the following settings are recommended:
• 'Move-out position 1' is set to the same position as 'Move-in position 2'
• 'Move-out position 2' is set to the same position as 'Move-in position 1'

This ensure that the robot moves out the same way it moved in.





It is also possible to change how the samples are placed on the conveyor belt. Please note: Only 4 samples will fit per row on the conveyor belt! It looks like there's space enough for 5, but unfortunately there's not enough room for the robot to move that far out. The settings for depositing samples are found on the 'Deposit' screen (fourth button from the top):

The Deposit screen contains setting for how samples are placed on the conveyor belt.

• Speed in/to/from depositing area: It is highly recommended to keep this speed around 10% - 20%

• Shot grid 1: This setting defines how samples are placed an stacked on the conveyor belt (see next section below)

• Depositing conveyor-belt 1 - Running time: This running time defines how far the belt moves between each row of samples on the belt. Unfortunately it is not possible to define a distance directly but only the running time. In general a running time of 0,5 - 0,6 sec results in a suitable distance between sample rows. If you want sample to move all the way out of the machine (but still not drop off the belt) a time around 8,5 sec is suitable. This is very handy when optimizing an injection molding process, where one wants to inspect each sample immediately after production.

The Deposit screen contains setting for how samples are placed on the conveyor belt.