Keywords
Citation
(2002), "Power on – spatter gone", Industrial Robot, Vol. 29 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2002.04929faf.009
Publisher
:Emerald Group Publishing Limited
Copyright © 2002, MCB UP Limited
Power on – spatter gone
Power on – spatter gone
Keywords: Welding
The innovative way to clean welding torches: no contact and save money at the same time
In this case, an innovation creates a completely new level of quality instead of just improving it. This sort of innovation is the alternative to mechanical cleaning of gas nozzles: the electro-magnetic “Robacta Touchless Cleaner” for welding torches by Fronius (see Plate 8).
Plate 8
The inovative Robatica Touchless Cleaner uses electronic forces to remove
weld spatter from the weld torch gas nozzle with no contact
The electro-magnetic “Robacta TC 1000/ 2000” cleaning system has a positive effect with regard to quality and economy. When welding steel, it replaces the conventional cleaning of nozzles with a milling cutter. There is now no need to cause the usual superficial damage and the associated higher tendency of adhesion, which occurs when welding spatter, is removed mechanically. In addition, there is now no need to reposition the Tool Center Point (TCP) as a consequence of clamping forces. Because electromagnetic forces remove the spatter, no damage occurs to other parts, e.g. tip-holder and gas or power nozzle. “No-contact cleaning has increased the tool life of the gas nozzle by a factor of five. And compared to mechanical nozzle cleaning on average five milling cutters. This amounts to a saving every year of approximately. e350 for milling cutters and around C500 for gas nozzles”, says Peter Wagner, the supervisor at Fronius with responsibility for production at DaimlerChrysler at Gaggenau. These are savings that anyone can achieve, if they clean up with a Robacta Touchless Cleaner. The device itself also helps to make savings. As there are no moving parts, there is nothing to wear out. Expenditure on maintenance is minimal. Also worth mentioning is that there is no longer any need to spray the gas nozzle and therefore the contamination of the robot cells is lower.