 | Smooth transition
The customised PARO solution for a well-known automotive supplier is used for removing individual units from small-parts containers and packaging pre-assembled components. What
makes it special is that a total of six installed handling cells work as the vital link between inductively controlled floor conveyor vehicles and the automatic assembly line, in
an area governed by limited cell volume specifications (H x L x W: 2300 mm x 2000 mm x 3000 mm / 90 in. x 78 in. x 118 in.). The system also features space-optimised material
flow. PARO initially opted for Interroll roller modules but had to switch to an accumulating conveyor due to the structured nature of the small-parts container base (longitudinal
and cross-groove ribbing). The natural choice was a belt drive developed by Interroll. As Martin Frauenfelder, Managing Director of PARO AG, explains: "Interroll products
have never been the subject of technical debate with our customers, which is always a good sign."
What goes around, comes around
The Interroll Belt Drive 113E was the only logical choice - especially as the best-in-class performer not only offers the traditional space-saving features but also a newly
designed motor with enhanced efficiency, higher performance (up to 0.55 kW / 0.75 HP) and helical gears made of steel. "If we had chosen a classic belt conveyor drive with
electric motor and step-down gear," explains Frauenfelder, "valuable assembly space would have been lost. This would have led to higher vertical strokes, which would
have been incompatible with our cycle time requirements." A stitch in time saves nine - and the 113E certainly came up trumps.
A good switch
Seven days a week, 70 Interroll Belt Drive 113Es with frequency converters and an additional 70 idler pulleys (with a roller length of 400 mm - 500 mm / 15.75 in. x 19.69 in.) now
perform their duties on a two and three shift basis within the new system. Safely, reliably and with minimal maintenance, these drives ensure the gear parts and components found
in almost all European cars with manual transmission are correctly palleted and depalleted in a timely fashion. If PARO has its way, use of these belt drives by the 60-strong
company founded in 1986, which has a predilection for "fascinating challenges and amazingly clever solutions", may well become a never-ending story. As Frauenfelder puts
it: "They are ingeniously simple and do their job - without any fuss." Their whole life long.
What our customers say
"The Interroll engineering consultant immediately offered a remarkably compact solution that really appealed to our technicians - especially since we were able to save
valuable assembly space in the process".
Martin Frauenfelder
Managing Director PARO AG
|
