In automotive industry, efficiency matters all. In Valeo heat exchanger production line, the tube loading is an important part of the assembly. The speed and accuracy will be essential to success. There are several traditional tub loading styles, such as manual tube loading, tube tray magazine etc. Until recently, the tube loading part of the process was not fully automated. It involved at least 3 workers to load tubes into machines by hand at a certain speed, and this has to be constant without error.
When Valeo decided to fully automate the first stage of its production process for core assembly system, the production speed was targeted to speed up 10 percent and workers on shift removed.
3V Robotic application can replace manual brazing fixture loading and people out of labor movement with visual quality inspection system. With fully automated core assembly, 3V machines enable a decrease in labor cost and short changeover times, also increased energy efficiency.
3V robotic solution for core assembly is distinctive. Valeo requested offers from 3V and other suppliers. 3V’s winning offer proposed a ‘pick-and-place’ system that could handle 200 tubes per minute. The speed and accuracy problem were resolved by using the 6-axis functionality of ABB’s IRB 4600 robot. With its sharpest path accuracy and motion control, it picks the tubes and places them into machines at an angle efficiently and accurately. The solution will be fine-tuned after the initial trial.
Looking ahead, Valeo will use robots to automate other production processes, and 3V is ready to provide solutions on demand.
