Starting point / Task definition

KUKA robots work alongside RAS MULTIBEND-CENTER in state-of-the-art production line. MULTIBEND-CENTER is the name of the bending center from RAS Reinhardt Maschinenbau GmbH for flexible sheet-metal working. In a state-of-the-art production line, two KUKA robots load and unload this bending system. The customer required a system concept that could be integrated smoothly into the existing production system.

Implementation / Solution

RAS Reinhardt Maschinenbau GmbH reacted to this requirement with a high-technology robot system. In the RAS bending center, the metal sheet is bent using a scratch-free process in which the sheet remains lying on the work surface and is moved by manipulators in the machine. It is loaded with blanks by one KUKA robot, and a second KUKA robot unloads the finished bent parts. Neither are taught, working instead with their “integrated intelligence”. The system is networked directly with the customer’s high-bay warehouse. The pallet for the finished parts has a matrix code which requests the stamped sheets from the warehouse. The first KUKA robot, a KR 150-2, picks up the blanks from one of the stacks of sheets on the shelf pallet, turns them over and feeds them to the MULTIBEND-CENTER. Following the bending process, a further KUKA robot unloads the boxes and panels and stacks them on the waiting finished parts pallet. The robots communicate with the CNC machine and the central computer via the RAS cell control computer.

System components / Scope of supply

- KR 150-2

- RAS MULTIBEND-CENTER

- RAS CellControl

Results / Success

The customer receives a highly-automated solution for flexible sheet-metal working and one that can be integrated smoothly into the existing production system. The robots communicate with the cell control computer and with the CNC program of the machine. In this way, full automation is possible - from the high-bay warehouse through to the bending process, right up to the unloading of the finished parts onto the pallet.

Source