Bruchsal, Nuremberg, SPS 2019, 11/26/2019 • Articulated robot arms with electrically driven welding tongs mounted on their wrists are currently dominating body shops – particularly those of automobile manufacturers. This growing movement away from the use of pneumatics to open and close tongs is boosting energy efficiency and enhancing the flexibility of the tools. Durable CMSMB.. electric cylinders from SEW EURODRIVE are used as drives in these applications.
In automobile production, thousands of welding spots on the car body, doors, hood, etc. ensure secure material bonding. Each component contributes to the rigidity of the vehicle, which helps protect passengers. Electric cylinders from SEW EURODRIVE are used to evenly generate the force of the welding tongs for this purpose. For a welding spot to meet all quality requirements, the electrodes must be pressed together consistently with the correct amount of force during each welding procedure and this force must be maintained throughout the entire process. Positioning welding spots accurately without damaging surrounding surfaces is a key quality criterion, because there is no welding spatter when application with welding tongs works perfectly.
SEW EURODRIVE's electric cylinders boast a service life of 20 million welding spots and provide a constant force accuracy of +/- 150 N throughout the welding tongs' production cycle. Patented oil bath lubrication ensures wear-free operation for this entire period, which removes the need for maintenance of the tongs' drive. What's more, their modular structure means the cylinders can be used in both C and X welding tong variants. The electric cylinders either have a serial-axis or a parallel-axis design, meaning they can fit into any structural framework.
They are equally effective in X tongs for points that are difficult to access and in C tongs for simpler structures. The cylinders can provide a peak drive force of up to 10 kN in C welding tongs and up to 24 kN in X welding tongs.