Robotic surface preparation system blasts trays of components

Guyson Corp. offers a robotic blast machine that repeats programmed surface preparation routines on individual components and processes a full tray of parts automatically without interruption.

The model RB-600 uses a 6-axis FANUC LR Mate 200iC robot as a component manipulator. Mounted upside down on an engineered structure under the roof of the grit-blasting chamber, the articulated arm is fitted with a pneumatically actuated gripper and a tailored suit of laminated fabric that isolates the robot from the harsh abrasive environment of the process enclosure.

Similar components in a production lot are placed in a custom-designed tray or pallet that orients the parts for robotic picking. The tray of components is placed on the transfer cart at one end of the robotic blast system, and a bar code is scanned to identify the part number to be processed. The associated robot motion program and blast process parameters are called up.

The transfer cart shuttles in and out of the blast chamber at the end of each blast cycle, so a finished component can be returned to the tray, and an unblasted part can be picked up by the component-handling robot.