ABB adds agile machine-tending robots

Citation

(2008), "ABB adds agile machine-tending robots", Industrial Robot, Vol. 35 No. 3. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2008.04935caf.001

ABB adds agile machine-tending robots

Article Type: Mini features From: Industrial Robot: An International Journal, Volume 35, Issue 3.

With the addition of three new product ranges, ABB's IRB 6600 family of robots now offers convenient, efficient and versatile floor- and shelf-mounted options for injection moulding machines from 600 to 3,000 tonnes (Figure 1).

Compact robots in the IRB 6620 range can be mounted in floor-standing, inverted or tilted orientations and are ideal for use with machines in the range 600-1,000 tonnes, while the IRB 6640 robots, which have a reach of up to 3.2m, are optimised for floor-standing applications with machines of 1,000-3,000 tonnes. Also suitable for 1,000-3,000 tonnes machines are the IRB 6600 robots, which have been designed specifically to offer ultra-fast operation.

Figure 1 With the addition of three new product ranges, ABB's IRB 6600 family of robots offers convenient, efficient and versatile options for injection moulding

The compact yet agile IRB 6620 robot provide enhanced flexibility in manufacturing cells. The low-total weight of just 900kg makes it easy to install without the aid of heavy lifting equipment. This is particularly advantageous in applications where the robot is mounted on top of a machine. The suitability of IRB 6620 for inverted mounting also makes it an excellent choice for use in the handling and cutting of materials.

The high-performance IRB 6640 robots are offered with a choice of arm length, with corresponding handling capacities from 130 to 235kg. Their large maximum payload makes these models particularly well suited for heavy materials handling, and their outstanding inertial characteristics mean that they can handle large components with ease. As IRB 6640 robots can bend fully backward, their working range is greatly extended, ensuring that they fit well into even the most densely packed production cells.

Where fast cycle times are a prime requirement, the IRB 6660 robot provides an attractive solution. Designed to offer high productivity, uptime and accuracy, these new robots are perfect for press tending, and for applications such as injection moulding where extraction times must be minimised. The most critical motion axes have been enhanced to match typical inter-press cycle requirements, which allow cycle times to be reduced by up to 15 percent. The maximum load of this model is 130kg, and the maximum working range is 3.1m.