Sixteen Sepro Robots, Including First ‘Made in America’ Model, Operating at NPE

Sixteen Sepro robots, including one of the first ever built outside of France, highlight Sepro America’s presence at NPE 2018 in Orlando, Florida.

The ‘Made in America’ 5-axis 7X-45 robot is positioned front and center in the Sepro America display (W8571 in Hall E), manipulating an automobile fascia. The 5-axis configuration adds the precision of a 2-axis Stäubli CNC wrist to the flexibility of a large, 3-axis Sepro Cartesian beam robot, enabling it to handle technically demanding parts at high production speeds on plastics injection-molding machines of up to 1300 tons.

Elsewhere in the booth, six other Sepro robots perform a variety of tasks. Each display features two units of similar size but significantly different capabilities. First, two 6-axis articulated-arm robots – a 6X-90L from the Sepro Stäubli range, and a 6X-170 from the Sepro Yaskawa family – perform choreography while handling car headlight components. Similarly, a 5X-25 from Sepro’s technological line of 5-axis Cartesian units, and a Success 22, representing that line of economical robots for simple pick-and-place applications, are operating together. A third demonstration involves a Success 5, the smallest of Sepro beam robots, and an S5 Picker, a 3-axis, all-servo sprue picker.

The 7X-45 robot that headlines the Sepro booth is among as many as 40 that Sepro America expects to build at its expanded plant in Warrendale, PA in 2018, says Jim Healy, Vice President, Sales & Marketing. He explains that producing three of Sepro’s largest robot lines – 3-axis Strong universal robots, technological 3-axis S7 Line robots, and premium 5-axis 7X Line robots – is an integral part of Sepro’s North American strategy.
Seventeen Robots in All
In addition to the seven robots at its own booth, nine more Sepro robots are in operation at NPE, demonstrating how Sepro’s single robot control platform, Visual, can be integrated with the machine controls of IMMs produced by a range of global manufacturers:
• Sumitomo Demag, W3045, is operating a 3-axis Success 22 robot, which is removing an automotive part from a 500-ton machine.
• Milacron, W2703, is highlighting four Sepro robots on its presses. These include Sepro’s largest 6-axis robot, the Sepro Yaskawa Motoman 6X-400, which is handling a large car panel, and a smaller 6X-170 model that is floor-mounted. Also operating is Sepro’s premium 5-axis 5X-35.
• Absolute Haitian, W143, is demonstrating a Zhafir Jenius hybrid IMM molding an automotive grille, with top-entry part removal accomplished by a Sepro 5X-35 5-axis servo robot.
• Billion, S11103, is also operating a premium-performance Sepro 5X-35 robot.
• Maruka USA, W911/1103, is featuring a Sepro Success 5 3-axis robot mounted on a Toyo molding machine.
• Toshiba America, W1363, is operating Sepro’s compact, high-performance S5-25 3-axis Cartesian robot.
• Confidential.
Solution by Sepro
A special section of the Sepro booth is dedicated to examples of automated molding cells that are typical of “Solution by Sepro” projects. These often involve multiple robots and specialized end-of-arm tooling (EOAT), plus a variety of feeders (bowl, drawer or manual), inspection devices, cavity separation, degating/trimming, box filling and other equipment – all customized to suit specific manufacturing objectives. The display includes a video presentation and large graphic panels depicting five real-world applications:
• High-speed medical part molding with part orientation and cavity separation: A Sepro S5 robot serves a machine with 32-cavity mold. Cavity-separated components are delivered to a packing station, while a conveyor system feeds racks that are each filled with 96 parts. Every 12 cycles, eight 96-part racks are filled, moved by a pick-and-place unit to the exit conveyor and delivered to an operator for packaging.

• Dual-mobile robot serving two 250-ton IMMs: The first of two S5-25 robots mounted on a common beam retrieves inserts from a feeding station before it removes molded parts and places the inserts for the next cycle. Then it transfers the insert molded parts and places them in the mold on Press 2 for over-molding. The second S5-25 mobile picks the finished over-molded components, snap-fits two halves together and deposits two finished parts on the exit conveyor.

• Four-cavity family mold part removal with press-fit inserts, automatic de-gating and packing: While a Sepro Success 22 robot removes molded parts from the IMM and places them at the trim station for degating, a Sepro 6X-90L articulated-arm robot picks up inserts from a vibratory feeder and positions them to be pressed into the degated molded parts and collected in tote bins.

• Fabric die-cutting and over molding on vertical IMM: A die cutter produces 8 circular fabric inserts which are loaded by a Sepro 6X-90L robot into an eight-cavity mold on a shuttle table. The table then rotates 180° to position the inserts under the IMM for over molding, while delivering eight finished inserts from the IMM. The robot’s EOAT picks up eight finished inserts, then releases them into stacking tubes for each mold cavity.

• Large, complex automotive molding cell with 17 Inserts: A Sepro 6X-90L robot successively picks and loads three types of inserts from three vibratory feeders, positioning each into one side of a two-sided stage assembly. An S7-75 press-tending robot picks the staged inserts, plus a single large insert. Then it loads them into one side of the mold cavity and picks a finished part from the mold and places it on the exit conveyor.

Through applications like these, the Solution by Sepro program provides injection molders with equipment, engineering expertise and additional services needed to bring new levels of efficiency and quality to their processes.

American Debut for Connectivity and Control Apps
The final section of the booth at NPE (W8571) is dedicated to Open 4.0, Sepro’s company-wide commitment to delivering openness, transparency, simplicity and choice through intelligent next-generation robots and controls. There, visitors can get hands-on experience with the Visual robot control platform and two new productivity products: OptiCycle and Live Support.

OptiCycle, a software plug-in for Sepro’s Visual robot control, was developed in cooperation with a major customer to help operators optimize robot cycles for maximum speed and productivity. Sepro’s new smartphone app, Live Support, speeds the troubleshooting and support process by automating not only the call, but the collection and transfer of robot data from the customer’s location to Sepro experts.

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, having equipped more than 33,000 injection-molding machines, Sepro Group is one of the largest independent sellers of robots in the world. Its 3-, 5- and 6-axis servo robots, special-purpose units and complete automation systems are all supported by the Visual control platform developed by Sepro especially for injection molders. This unique controller is a key component in what the company refers to as ‘Open integration’ – a collaborative approach to equipment connectivity and interoperability that can be tailored to exactly suit the specific needs of processors and injection-molding OEMs. For Sepro and its customers and partners, “The Future is Wide Open.”