PRODUCT REVIEWS
Folding with robot handling
The Schröder Group presented a system for fully automated industrial production processes at EuroBLECH 2024 last October in Hanover, Germany. Its focus was a MAK 4 Evolution UD folder, equipped with a Fanuc robot. All the automation is controlled via Schröder software, it told ISMR, with no special robotics knowledge required.
“ To date, the market offers only a few solutions that can automatically handle sheet metal parts weighing more than 100kg. Up to now, press brakes have usually been operated by robots but this can be technically complex and slow. With our sheet metal folding machines, we have been making significant progress for years in sectors where previously only press brakes were used,” said the folding specialist.
Keeping it simple
Automation solutions based on the bidirectional folding machine from Schröder follow the principle of‘ Gauge once, bend it all’ for short cycle times. The solution presented at EuroBLECH demonstrated the future of industrial folding of heavy sheetmetal. The robot loads sheets of up to 6mm thick and 3000 x 1500mm in size onto the machine, while the finished bent products are automatically stacked on a palletising station. Using the pneumatic stop of the MAK 4 Evolution UD and the Up-and-Down folding beam, the folding machine itself runs through the production process without any intervention from the robot.
“ Our goal was to develop a robust, easyto-operate solution that combines maximum repeat accuracy with a fast cycle. A major
The magnetic spreader separates the sheets as they are picked up.
advantage: the production process itself takes place without any intervention by the robot. This is made possible by the already very high degree of automation of the sheetmetal folding machine. A central element here is the exact positioning of the sheetmetal part,” explained The Schröder Group.
Its Advanced Handling System uses an optical edge detection process with two cameras for this purpose. The position of the sheet is recorded directly behind the bending line and compared to the geometry of the flat blank or component. This ensures that the material matches the folding program. A position measurement process is carried out in this step, which detects any twisting of the inserted component as well as an offset in two directions. The machine then calculates the necessary axis adjustments in seconds.
“ Instead of measuring the sheet as usual at the back gauge, the sheet is measured 200mm behind the bending line. The machine’ s suction plate stop is responsible for positioning. This means that precision robot positioning is not required. The slower impact on hardware pins of the back gauge by the robot is only used for sheets up to a size of 2500 × 1200mm to prepare the next sheet for the bending process, parallel to the main processing time,” outlined the manufacturer.
Robot handling system
Once the sheet is on the gauge table, the machine’ s pneumatic Advanced Handling System takes over.
Production with the robot handling system is as follows. First, the robot picks up a sheet from the pallet with blank sheets and guides it to the double sheet detection system. This is a simple measurement system that ensures that two sheets that stick together are not accidentally picked up. If this has not already been prevented by the spreading magnets in the pick-up stations for the raw blanks, this precaution provides additional safety.
The robot arm then positions the sheet in such a way that it can be placed on the folding machine in the correct orientation. A“ classic” centring table, which is used in most sheet metal robot applications due to its simplicity, is used for this purpose. The robot places the sheet on the inclined table
70 | ismr. net | ISMR April 2025