European Welding

Lincoln Electric buys Portuguese welding equipment maker

Thu, 17 Apr 2008 14:59:44 GMT

Lincoln Electric Holdings Inc. (www.lincolnelectric.com) acquired Electro-Arco S.A. for an undisclosed amount.

Electro-Arco, based near Lisbon, Portugal, manufactures welding consumables. The company has annual sales of roughly $40 million and employs 165 people.

Lincoln Electric chairman and CEO John Stropki said: "This acquisition significantly expands our European consumables manufacturing capacity and widens our commercial presence in western Europe".

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Welding Inspection Automated Vision Systems Improve Quality

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 21:19:02 GMT

Automated vision systems for in-process welding and for quality inspection helps to improve the bottom line as well as the quality of the welding process. Vision systems manufacturers agree that the big driver for automated vision systems is the automotive industry as carmakers push their suppliers to tighten controls on their processes and quality.

Vision systems have to be considered separately for welding processes and for inspection applications, Dean Elkins, senior general manager for the Midwest and eastern regions for Motoman, said.

"If we look at vision systems as they relate to the welding process, interest in that has grown from problems in variations in piece parts that customers are getting from their suppliers," Dean Elkins said. "It’s a way to make up for inconsistencies in fixture design, as a means of finding a part and tracking the joint. Most of the time, these systems are structured as a light or a laser-based system."

Laser-based seam tracking offers the benefits of faster tracking of medium to heavy deposition applications. Many times a laser-based process will be tied to a secondary product known as 'adaptive fill'. Dean Elkins said the adaptive fill products are variable, and have the laser looking at weld joint geometry. They adjust welding parameters when needed.

"The vision system looks ahead of the arc so the robot knows what’s coming in terms of joint profile. Then the robot can speed up or slow down, decrease or increase wire feed speed, and increase or decrease deposition of metal to provide more of a lights out approach to welding," Dean Elkins said.

Adaptive fill technology is growing fast in automotive applications such as catalytic converters and suspension components, areas in which we are seeing increased levels of vision based inspection systems. Dean Elkins said vision systems for those parts are increasing as the major automobile manufacturers hold their suppliers to higher and higher process capability standards.

Motoman uses thirdparty providers of vision inspection systems.

One of those is Servo-Robot Inc. which offers two primary systems, ArcScan and LasScan.

ArcScan system

The ArcScan system is a visual weld inspection and measurement system designed for arc welded components. It has been used in applications that range from in-process real time weld quality measurement to offline auditing applications, the company said. In its on-line information, Servo-Robot said objective consistent measurements made with its ArcScan systems are superior to inspection done manually by people, and provide more information than periodic weld cross sectioning. Inspection speeds are in the range of 2 m/ min to 5 m/min (6.5 ft/min to 16.4 ft/min).

Benefits of the ArcScan include ensuring that welds meet quality standards and design requirements; identifying variations in the process; validating the process during prototype and test samples; and ability to measure undercuts, entry angle and toe radius.

LasScan/Bead Scan systems

LasScan/Bead Scan systems are Servo-Robot’s visual weld inspection systems designed for laser brazing processes.

These systems deal with detecting the very small pinholes that can develop in the brazing process to dimensions as large as a car body. For both large and small dimensions, the systems maintain accuracy of position. LasScan systems feature dual sensors that allow for simultaneous geometry detection and small defect detection. Seam finding is integrated into the system to detect and track the locations of both parts and joints.

Servo-Robot said LasScan operates at inspection speeds of to 10 m/min.(32.8 ft/min), and can detect pinholes as small as 0.1 mm (0.003937 in.), while having the ability to inspect small fillet welds and parts that have equal thicknesses.

Jeff Noruk, president Servo-Robot Corp., a U.S. subsidiary of the Canadian-based company, said his company has seen a trend toward more automated vision systems for welding.

"Obviously, automotive was the first industry in which we placed those systems, but the interest is up even outside of automotive," Jeff Noruk said.

However, he added that, in most cases, automated vision inspection for small companies isn’t feasible.

"Shops maybe have one or two robots to handle welding jobs, but they don’t think about the inspection. It’s tougher, realistically, for small shops to implement automated vision. I can’t think of any small shops that have our system," Jeff Noruk said.

It is not that small shops aren’t interested in automated welding inspection, but there’s a misconception that if they adopt automated vision inspection a shop can eliminate its quality person.

"It’s tougher because small shops aren’t as far up the curve. I have to tell them ‘you still need a person in quality who knows welding to understand what the vision system is telling them,’ " Jeff Noruk said. Typically, it is the shop that has 200 or more people and a minimum of five robots that represents the optimum for putting in robotic vision systems, unless a shop has a very critical part and the customer is willing to pay for it, Jeff Noruk added.

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GE offers automated orbital weld inspection system

Wed, 27 Feb 2008 20:19:13 GMT

GE Inspection Technologies offers an orbital weld inspection system, the High-Purity-Weld Video Probe, created to inspect orbital welds in the food and pharmaceutical processing industries.

The integrated control section/monitor was removed from the probe to allow for easy manipulation of the insertion tube when inspecting 360 degree orbital welds. A four-inch supple bending section was added at the distal end of the probe to help navigate through 90 degree turns in pipe and tube runs. Both length and insertion tube diameter can be modified to meet specific user requirements.

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UK friction-weld technology scores hit in Germany

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 08:26:22 GMT

Europe's largest trailer manufacturer, Schmitz Cargobull, has chosen a Thompson friction welding machine equipped with an innovative alignment system for producing axles at its factory in Germany.

Schmitz Cargobull is using the fully-automatic Thompson machine to friction-weld finished machine hubs with pre-machined brake disc flanges at its modern production facility in Altenberge.

The steel components are loaded into the machine, via a Guedel gantry system, where they are simultaneously friction welded at both ends and then unloaded on to an output conveyor. The machine is equipped with Thompson's computerised system for in-process weld monitoring and control.

Olaf Schuette, production manager at the Altenberge factory, said the machine's capabilities were remarkable, especially as production cycle time targets had already been exceeded.

In recent months, Thompson has supplied a number of Model 125 machines to commercial vehicle component makers around the world including the Far East.

Thompson produces a range of friction welding machines for making parts used in the aerospace, automotive, construction machine and oil exploration industries. Established for more than 40 years, the company has an annual turnover in the region of ВЈ20 million and employs around 100 staff at its UK head office in Halesowen, West Midlands.

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CNC punching, laser cutting, bending demonstrated

Tue, 19 Feb 2008 07:53:11 GMT

The automation of sheet metal working processes, including CNC punching, CNC laser cutting and CNC press brakes will be emphasised for MACH 2008 visitors

The Trumpf stand at the UK's MACH 2008 machine tool exhibition will emphasise that there is no need to compromise on automation or unmanned sheet metal working. Trumpf will demonstrate its competence in automated punching, laser cutting and bending and the ability of its systems to accommodate changing production needs and still achieve quality parts at the lowest unit cost.

The machines accept flexible and expandable automation.

The choices range from simple productivity gains from features such as automatic laser nozzle exchange through to all the elements necessary for full 'lights out' production.

All Trumpf machines are designed so that the batch size, material and program can be changed with ease and with no detrimental effect on manufacturing cost.

Degrees of automation - many of the machines featured will demonstrate different degrees of automation.

For example, the single station punching or laser cutting head is a vital component of every Trumpf machine.

This remains a novel feature and one that significantly reduces set-up and machining times.

With this intelligent head system Trumpf said it offers the basis for true l'ights out' production.

In the field of 2D laser cutting, for example, the head works in tandem with another novel feature, automatic laser nozzle exchange.

The system makes it possible to process a variety of parts and materials using optimum cutting parameters, even during unmanned shifts.

Dependent on the machine model chosen, any sheet thickness from 1 - 25mm can be processed with the machine's single cutting head as the engineering beam guidance system automatically adapts to the material and adjusts the laser beam.

Automatic nozzle changing will be demonstrated separately at MACH 2008 to highlight its significance.

2D precision laser cutting will be demonstrated at MACH 2008 by the TruLaser 2030.

This larger format model is new to the UK and will be shown with the higher powered 3.2kW TruCoax laser that delivers exceptional beam quality.

This compact machine has fully integrated load and unload and is designed for high productivity.

Fully automated bending - the TruBend 5130 CNC press brake (brake press) will be converting the parts produced by the TruLaser or TruPunch CNC machines into finished components.

This press brake is characterised by its short cycle times.

Precise bending every time is assured by the Automatically Controlled Bending a system that has potentially up to eight sensors.

This press brake will be shown complete with BendMaster that will feed the machine blanks as well as sort and stack the finished parts.

BendMaster automatically selects a mechanical gripper for small parts or a vacuum gripper for larger ones.

As a result it can handle a wide product range up to a maximum weight of 40kg.

The TruBend and BendMaster are operated by a single control and jointly programmed by the dedicated TruTops Bend software.

CNC punching - Trumpf will also be emphasising another important point at MACH 2008 - don't dismiss punching.

Thanks to continuous development punching is the quickest and cheapest method of producing many parts, especially those that require additional operations such as forming and tapping.

The company's latest punching machine, the TruPunch 5000, will demonstrate this potential.

The high productivity of this machine has been achieved through faster processing and tool rotation, additional drives and faster acceleration thanks to lighter weight components, said Trumpf.

These developments have given the TruPunch 5000 a productivity boost of 15% on its predecessor.

In common with all of the Trumpf high productivity machines this model can be specified with automation to suit the need from semi-automatic loading through to a fully automatic manufacturing cell with warehouse interface.

Marking and welding - the TruMark Station 5000 performs a wide range of marking and microprocessing tasks on various metals, plastics and ceramics.

Its compact design allows its easy integration into a production line.

This model is also available with flow-through transfer allowing longer workpieces to be processed.

The stand-alone TruLaser Station 5004 is the last exhibit and is a compact and ergonomic workstation for deposition laser welding with wire.

It represents another first in laser processing with the inclusion of an electronic stereomicroscope that allows quicker and easier set-up.

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