Tag: Kawasaki Robotics

Conveyor Selection and Installation Considerations

Posted on by Jerry Bransom

It is very common in the industrial sector to have hundreds of feet of conveyor in the building. You can buy good conveyor anywhere used or new. It is repairable and versatile. Where you get into trouble with conveyor is the devices needed to control the conveyor. Let me go through a list.

Other conveyor selection and installation considerations need to be reviewed. You have to power it up first. Generally, conveyor only runs in one direction so you do not have to spend a lot on the motor contactors for each motor. Also in general, conveyors are driven by motors 3hp and below with 1.5 HP and .75 HP being the most common we see. Conveyor gearboxes are usually about 30 to one so you don’t need a huge motor to drive the gearbox. And here is another tip, save money on small conveyor motors by running more than one off a drive or contactor. You can buy a 3HP contactor and run 2x1HP motors without a lot of problems. We do this sometimes when the motors are running 2 sections of conveyor that we want to act as one, such as a corner. For example, you have a conveyor leading into a corner and the corner breaks down. The Lead In conveyor will send product to the floor or other damage without interlocking somehow.

You also have sensors all along the conveyor for letting you know it is jammed or stopped. You don’t want the previous conveyor to be running while the next one is tripped. You will have product everywhere if that happens. Generally we interlock a conveyor to keep this from happening. 

If you buy a conveyor system, besides conveyor selection and installation considerations,  you need a control box. Here is what is in a conveyor controller:
DC Power Supplies, AC power supplies, Motor Breakers, Fuses, Motor Contactors, Motor Drives, Overloads, Timing Relays, Simple Relays, Terminal Blocks, Grounding Bars, Safety Relays, Power Relays, Reset Circuits, PLC Controllers, Selector Switches, Start Buttons, Stop Buttons, E-Stop Buttons, Warning Buzzers, Indicator Lights, Din Rail, Wireway, Distribution Blocks, Distribution Fuse Blocks and more. The cost adds up.

If you are considering a conveyor system, the choices out there make this a huge task. Size and weight of product, space restrictions, number of productions lines, integrating with equipment, location of conveyor, safety evaluations, walking safety, power requirements, type of conveyor (Belt/Roller/Chain/Zero Pressure/Merge/Crossovers). Holy Smoke! No wonder conveyor sales people have to know so much! Here at BTS, we have been doing conveyors for more than 40 years. Call us if you need help. (855) ROBOT-99

Kawasaki Robot Spin Control

Kawasaki Robotics Spin Control Function has two control systems. Their differences are listed in the table below.
1. Simple Spin Control: Expands the motion range of JT6 or the external rotation axis set as the spin axis, and synchronizes movement of the spin axis with the other axes (JT1 – JT5) towards the set point. In short, expands the normal motion range for a robot’s JT6 or external rotation axis.

2. Standard Spin Control: Functions the same as Simple Spin Control but without synchronizing movement of the spin axis with the other axes (JT1 – JT5). Uses special commands/instructions for spin control in operation.

Spin Control is more often used in welding robots but can also be used as a safeguard to keep palletizing robots from tearing up the harness on the 4th axis.

BPW180 Sales Brochure

BPW180 Palletizing Sales Brochure

Here is a view of what your palletizing workcell will look like. This robot is mounted to a 3-foot base which puts the robot in the perfect position for most conveyor systems. The pallet shown is at a height of 3 feet but the actual work zone is much closer to the floor. To determine the final location of the pallet, you add the tooling height (about 16 inches) and the conveyor height (about 16 inches). This allows the CP180 to make a pallet around 8-feet tall.

This is a short version of the main brochure

BTS Palletizing Workcell Brochure

BTS Palletizing Workcell Brochure

Kawasaki CP180L 4-Axis Robot operates at up to 2080 Moves per Hour w/130kg load
Kawasaki CP180L 4-Axis Robot operates at up to 1800 Moves per Hour w/180kg load

Kawasaki E03 Regenerative Controller
Kawasaki Teach Pendant and 10m cables
36 inch x 36 inch Robot Base and mounting bolts Note1
Choose one of Four EOAT packages
2ea 52 x 58 Pallet Pocket with sensors for 48in pallet
1ea 30 x 36 Live Roller Variable Speed Buffer Pallet
1ea 30 x 36 Live Roller Variable Speed Pick Conveyor
BTS C100 Integration PC Controller with 10.1 Color HMI
Yaskawa A1000 Advanced VFD for Buffer and Pick Conveyor
18ft x 25ft Safety Cage with Light Curtains. Includes 1 safety access door
Pre-wired Interconnect Cables for Workcell
4 Stacking Configurations pre-programmed (customer provides product and pallet sizes/patterns)
Price includes all installation labor and material costs (Please see customer responsibilities)
Note: 1 – if your concrete floor will not support our 3636 Base, we can build the mounts larger

RBC-1700 Product Brochure

Our Collaborative Direct to Package machine

 

  “Direct to Package” rates of up to 4000 items per hour
  Multiple configurations using a single machine
  Collaborative robot simulates human motion
  Wide range of tooling available for manufacturers
  Return on Investment (ROI) one year or less
  Safe to deploy, easy to operate, low power use

RF Bin Dumper Manual

We originally designed this so a forklift operator would not have to get off and operate a machine. In that application we configure the relay as an “Impulse Relay”. One press of the button and the relay contact #1 closes and relay contact #2 opens. Touch the button again and the relay operates the opposite way.

15 amp contacts on the relay can operate multiple relays or even a motor or a large light.

Unit operates at 120vac.
Use for electric appliances, controlling illumination, heating, motors, ventilators, warning illuminating on the road, flashers, cyclers, frequently switched systems