Application

Fitting a 90-kilogram gearbox into the body – four hundred times a shift

In vehicle assembly a gearbox weighs between 60 and 110 kilograms. Once a day that is an exercise. Four hundred times a shift it is sick leave – and a cycle time that no longer holds in the afternoon.

Component: Gearbox, engine, axle
Weight incl. gripper: 60 to 125 kg
Cycle: under 60 seconds
Frequency: 300 to 450 per shift
Movement: lift, rotate, fit
Environment: assembly line, operator in the working area

01 — The task

The weight is not the problem. The repetition is.

The assembly arrives in the workpiece carrier, has to be picked up, rotated about the vertical axis and fitted into the body. The joining position is low, partly hidden, and the fit is unforgiving: anyone who starts at an angle leaves rework behind. The operator works in changing postures, often with arms outstretched over the carrier. A crane takes the weight but swings – and nothing can be fitted against a pendulum. A robot would need a program and a safety enclosure for every variant, and assembly produces new variants daily.

What the solution has to do

The load must stay put when the hand lets go – at half height too.
Lateral forces when joining against a stop must go into the unit, not into the operator.
The gripper has to secure the position without touching the sealing face.
No program, no approval, no enclosure when a variant changes.
The working area runs from the workpiece carrier into the body – around 2.5 metres.

02 — The solution

How we solve it

Why a rigidly guided arm and not a rope

A rope unit holds the load in suspension but does not guide it. Joining creates exactly the forces it cannot absorb: the operator presses the assembly against the stop, the rope gives way, the load swings back. An articulated-arm manipulator is a guided kinematic system. It carries the load on a defined path, absorbs lateral forces and tilting moments and leaves the component standing the moment the operator lets go. That is the difference this task turns on.

Sizing follows the moment, not the payload

The most common false assumption is: “the unit has to carry 125 kilograms.” What matters is the tilting moment at the base – load times reach. 125 kilograms at 3.4 metres load the column differently from the same load close to the standpoint. We calculate the anchor forces before quoting and check whether the industrial floor takes them; as a rule dowelling is enough and a foundation is rarely needed.

The gripper decides how much rework there is

The risk in such projects lies almost never in the unit but in the pick-up. A form gripper for the gearbox housing holds the position during rotation, touches no sealing face and weighs 10 to 30 kilograms depending on design – on top of the component weight. Where several variants run across the same station, a change system with defined mounts is cheaper than one compromise gripper that does everything by halves.

03 — What changes

At the workstation afterwards

The force required drops from 90 kilograms to a few newtons of guiding force.
The load stands still at the fitting position – joining against a stop becomes possible.
The assessment under the key indicator method improves in all three criteria: force, posture, execution conditions.
A variant change costs a gripper change instead of a program approval.
The workstation stays accessible to people – no enclosure, no separation.

04 — Matching equipment

What we build it from

Lifting equipment · Manipulators

Articulated Arm Hoist

The jointed arm for millimetre-precise handling.

View device Lifting equipment · Manipulators

I-GO Articulated Boom

Articulated arm plus integrated lifting axis.

View device

Frequently asked questions

What payload do I need for assembly work?

Add the component weight and the gripper. A four-cylinder short engine weighs between 60 and 110 kg depending on build stage, a form or vacuum gripper adds another 8 to 30 kg. That makes a 125 kg class unit right for most assembly stations. What matters, though, is not the peak load but the moment of load times reach.

Does the manipulator replace a robot?

Not where the movement is always the same – there the robot is superior. Wherever variants, rework or visual inspection come into play, the hand-guided manipulator is more economical: no programming, no enclosure, no downtime when variants change.

How long does converting an existing line take?

Installing a floor column with articulated arm takes a day, acceptance half a day. The longer part is the sizing beforehand: we look at the workstation, measure distances and heights and define gripper and reach. Six to ten weeks from survey to commissioning is realistic.

Matching services

Industries

Automotive

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