Josko relies on vacuum technology from Schmalz

Josko was looking for an alternative because there were no longer any spare parts for the old, so-called turner on the sanding machine. "The new system should relieve our skilled workers and increase the degree of automation," emphasizes Rainer Plöckinger, Interior Doors Plant Manager at the Kopfing site. As Schmalz is already represented in production with numerous products, Josko turned to the vacuum experts once again.

Together with the industrial company, Schmalz Austria set about developing a suitable system. Another of Josko's requirements was that the new system should no longer require manual programming. "The Weber KSF sanding machine, two Kuka robots and our handling solution therefore work together fully automatically," says Christian Prießner, Managing Director of Schmalz Austria.

Protected behind bars, the first robot picks up a blank from the stack and places it on a conveyor belt in front of the machine. The door leaf travels through the machine, which calibrates and grinds the surface. On the other side, the second robot picks up the blank and places it from above on a rack located between the two machines. The first robot picks it up again from below, turns the door leaf and places it in front of the sanding machine again - with the reverse side facing upwards. On the second pass through the machine, the other half now also receives its finish. As soon as the processing of the front and back has been completed, the second robot places the door on the "finished" stack.

A suction spider from Schmalz provides a secure grip. With significantly larger dimensions than the crawling animal and designed by the vacuum experts to meet Josko's exact requirements, one of these grippers sits on each robot arm. The low weight of the basic components made of aluminum profiles enables fast cycles, and the FMP-S gripper system with sealing foam is perfect for handling heavy and rough workpieces such as door leaves. Vacuum is generated via a connection to the compressed air network and is controlled by valves. Thanks to the integrated system monitoring and sensor technology, the suction spiders work with absolute process reliability.

The interaction between the robot and gripper moves around 70 to 80 door leaves per day, which pass through the workstation in an eight-hour shift. Since commissioning in 2020, the system has processed around 50,000 blanks - fully automatically and ergonomically, without burdening employees with strenuous activities such as moving the heavy elements. "We are more than satisfied with the solution," emphasizes Plöckinger. "Only if the power goes out, the machine comes to a standstill," he says with a wink. But fortunately, that hasn't happened yet. The highlight for the staff: individual dimensions are stored in the system for different blanks, which the specialists simply select via the display. Manual programming is finally a thing of the past. "We have also eliminated a potential source of errors," adds Plöckinger happily.