Sepro Will Introduce Biggest Robots Yet at K Show

Sepro Will Introduce Biggest Robots Yet at K Show:  Sepro Group will bring a total of 26 robots to K 2016, including two that will be, most likely, the largest robots at the show. The total number, as well as the wide range of sizes and configurations, helps emphasize Sepro’s commitment to connectivity and agility, two of the primary elements in the industry of the future, also known as Industry 4.0. The company is delivering this message for the first time at the K 2016 Press Preview, presented by Messe Dusseldorf, June 27 to 29, where the world’s largest plastics show will take place in October.

According to CEO, Jean-Michel Renaudeau, Sepro is on track toward its fourth record sales year in a row. He projects global turnover will exceed € 100 million for the first time. Unit sales (robots and sprue pickers) are expected to surpass 2500.

“Most people expect that the industry of the future – some call it Industry 4.0 – will be built on openness,” Renaudeau explains. “We embrace that idea and we believe it has been what has fueled our recent successes. We have been open to new technologies, whether they are developed by Sepro engineers or by partner companies like Staübli, Machines Pagès and now Yaskawa Motoman. We have made connections with injection molders and machine manufacturers through agile integration, which allows Sepro to equip any molding machine with one common control platform available in several different configurations. And we are working with researchers at Carnegie Mellon University on the next generation robot controls. In all of this, we see a future that is wide open to innovation, integration and collaboration that will benefit not only Sepro, but the entire industry.”

26 Robots on 11 stands in 4 Different Halls at K 2016

Thanks to partnerships with ten different-molding machine manufacturers, Sepro robots can be seen operating in three of the machinery halls at the Dusseldorf plastics show. These exhibitors represent seven different nations.

Robots of All Sizes

Another eight robots will be exhibited on Sepro’s own stand (Hall 12, A49). These include two new robots aimed at large molding machines. The new 7X-100XL, a 5-axis Cartesian beam robot will be demonstrated along with the new 6X-400, a 6-axis articulated-arm robot that is the product of the recent partnership agreement with Yaskawa Motoman.

Occupying 88m² of the company’s 300m² booth, these two robots are expected to be the biggest at the show. The horizontal beam on the 7X-100XL offers a 5-m horizontal stroke. The telescopic vertical stroke is 3200 mm and maximum payload is100 kg (an extended vertical stroke up to 3600 mm is optional) At K 2016, the 7X-100XL will be demonstrating manipulation of a C Class bumper through 5 axes of motion using the servo-driven wrist developed by Staübli Robotics. Unlike pneumatic wrists, which can only move in a continuous arc from 0° to 90° or 0° to 180°, the 7X wrists can move from 0 to 180° and 0 to 270° or any part of those rotations with absolute precision.

The 7X-100XL completes Sepro’s line of 5-axis beam robots (5X and 7X ranges), which now includes 6 models that can automate injection-molding machines from 20 to 5000 tons.

The new Sepro Yaskawa 6X-400 6-axis robot will also be handling an automobile bumper – this one for an Audi vehicle. The robot is the largest of four models introduced recently to serve molding machines from 800 to 5000 tons.  These four new models complete Sepro’s range of 6-axis robots. Four smaller 6-axis units, developed in partnership with Staübli Robotics were introduced several years ago to equip molding machines with up to 800 tons of clamp. Like all Sepro robots, the new Yaskawa-Motoman units are serviced by Sepro’s global team of skilled technicians.

The 6X-400 being demonstrated on the Sepro stand will have a reach radius of just over 4m and can carry a maximum 120-kg payload. The Sepro Yaskawa-Motoman design is streamlined to minimize space requirements. The two smaller models are intended to be placed on the floor next to the molding machine like any articulated-arm unit, while the two larger units are specially designed to be shelf-mounted on top of the fixed platen or another raised structure or wall. The 6X-400 is one of the largest shelf-mounted robots in the world.

The new Sepro Yaskawa-Motoman range, along with the whole 6-axis product family, will be driven by Sepro’s Visual 3 control. The same control platform is used with all Sepro robots.  The Visual controls are designed to be universally user-friendly and are particularly well adapted to the world of plastic injection molding. Sepro is the only independent robot manufacturer to offer a native control platform common to all its robots.

Other New Robots Being Introduced

Sepro is also introducing new small robots, including a 3-axis robot called the Success 5, and an S5 servo-driven sprue picker. The two robots share the same basic mechanical design. The new Success 5, which is part of the Sepro Success range of economical, general-purpose robots for molding machines up to 1000 tons, is the smallest in the line. Yet, it is a true 3-axis servo robot with a standard R1 pneumatic (0° – 90°) rotation and an optional R3 rotation (0° – 90° or 0° – 180°). The standard unit has a 400 mm horizontal demolding stroke, a 1000 mm vertical stroke and a 3-kg maximum payload.

The S5 picker has the same 3-axis linear design with a simple sprue gripper, but it can be supplied optionally with a simple R1 wrist rotation and can be fitted with simple end-of-arm tooling. The fast-cycling picker operates entirely inside IMM footprint and includes an unloading chute and guarding.

To illustrate the breadth of the Sepro product portfolio, the S5 picker will be operating at K 2016 along with several other Sepro robots handling iPad covers. This demonstration cell will include:

• Success 11 and Success 22… somewhat larger models than the new Success 5
• 5X-25… representing the smaller units in Serpro’s 5-axis robot line
• S3 numeric sprue picker… with horizontal arm that rotates up 100° from the centerline of the machine to drop sprues or small parts beside the fixed platen
• A pneumatic Sprue Picker will also be on display

The stand will also feature an operating 50-ton Sumitomo-Demag injection-molding machine equipped with a Sepro 6X-60 articulated-arm robot, which is the smallest in the 6X Visual range of 6-axis robots. In this small-footprint integration, the robot will remove medical syringe barrels from the mold and place them on a machine-side conveyor.

Solution by Sepro

One more feature of the Sepro stand is an “automation wall” presenting still and video images that explain the capabilities and services behind Solution by Sepro, a complete, package of equipment and services to bring new levels of efficiency and quality to the injection-molding process. Each customized solution includes one or more robot, multifunctional end-of-arm tooling, insert feeders and positioning systems, and post-mold inspection, assembly and packaging equipment. Specific solutions are available for:

• Control… vision; presence/absence of components; electrical continuity
• Parts handling… shuttle tables; vertical stackers
• Traceability… marking; labeling; separation by cavity
• Assembly… closing; clipping; screwing; gluing; welding
• Cutting… gate vestige removal; flash removal; routing

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About Sepro

Sepro was one of the first companies in the world to develop Cartesian beam robots for injection-molding machines, introducing its first CNC controlled “manipulator” in 1981. Today, Sepro Group is one of the largest independent sellers of Cartesian robots. Customers around the world are supported by wholly-owned daughter companies and sales and service offices in Germany, Spain, Benelux, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Mexico, Brazil, China and now Austria Hungary. Numerous independent business partners, distributors and service hubs extend Sepro’s global network to over 50 other countries. To date, Sepro has equipped more than 30,000 injection-molding machines worldwide.

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