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Tube Products International October 2012
products & developments
Laser sensing systems
Servo-Robot produces intelligent laser sensing systems for welding
automation, including seam tracking, seam finding, adaptive welding and
weld inspection. The company’s systems are applied in the pipe and tube
industry improving weld quality and increasing productivity.
The laser vision systems are used in several stages of pipe and tube
production, including seam tracking and adaptive welding of inside and
outside welds, inspection of seam or weld bead geometry and guidance of
ultrasonic inspection probes.
Servo-Robot’s systems can be integrated to any robot or special purpose
welding machines to perform the following functions: joint tracking and
adaptive welding for SAW, GMAW and laser welding processes; automatic
gap control with real-time root measurement; real-time ultrasonic probe
position control; and 100 per cent automatic weld geometry and defect
detection.
The intelligent laser sensing systems for welding automation are offered
under two product names: Power-Trac is a joint tracking system for robotic
arc welding that increases travel speed, eliminates defects and reduces over
welding; Auto-Trac is a complete solution for joint tracking and adaptive
process control designed for special purpose welding machines, and can
operate on sheet metal applications as well as on thick wall tubes.
In addition to these systems, in the pipe and tube industry Servo-Robot
offers the all-new Wiki-Scan handheld welding inspection system, used to
manually inspect joints and weld bead geometry for quality control.
Servo-Robot Inc
– Canada
Bending of hose fittings
Special solutions are required for special
requirements – or just one efficient,
customisable solution. For one-part
hose fittings, transfluid Maschinenbau
GmbH has developed a ‘twin’ solution
and will equip its systems with different
modules depending on the application,
varying mostly in the loading system.
Fittings are mostly mechanically
processed, extremely short, relatively
thick-walled and their sealing elements
(sealing head or hose part) must not
be damaged under any circumstances.
“Cost-efficient processing options are
an aspect on which we place great
emphasis,” commented Gerd Nöker,
CEO of transfluid. “Large amounts of
pieces are mostly manufactured for
small sizes. And what counts here is
the speed.”
The fittings bending machine for sizes
up to 1" is fitted with a bulk material
hopper with a capacity of 600 litres.
The advantage of this is that fittings
of any size can be loaded. A powerful
drive is ensured by servo-electrical or
hydraulic equipment.
Bending can be therefore done in
short cycles from 6 to 7 seconds,
including the entire handling. Special
supporting elements ensure that the
sealing cone and hose connections
remain undamaged. Fittings starting
with inner diameter of 8mm are bent by
the transfluid system using an internal
mandrel, so that bend ovalisation can
be ruled out.
Components with dimensions up to
a diameter of 75mm are transported
by using a robust loading system.
As the weight of these fittings is so
high, the loading system prevents the
components from uncontrolled falling.
The work pieces are provided on a
special pallet, taken from the handling
system and supplied to the bending
machine. These sizes are generally bent
by machines with an internal mandrel.
A maximum ovalisation of 3 per cent is
given.
Also for large components, special
supporting adapters ensure that each
piece is discharged in the optimum way
in the process.
Flanges or other sealing elements will
stay safe from damage. Even for fittings
of this size, the entire processing time is
a maximum of 25 seconds.
transfluid Maschinenbau GmbH
–
Germany
