Compact power and free conveyor
March 14th 2008

AMF Automation has supplied a standard two tier power and free conveyor with empty platen return to Honda for use in the assembly of front suspensions.

To meet increased output requirements Honda considered upping production of the sub-frames on the existing conveyor. However, this would have required transport to a sister assembly line, so was decided against on the basis of cost and the potential risk to line side production.

In order to fit into the confined area designated for the new conveyor system, AMF Automation worked closely with the Honda engineers to come up with a simple, compact solution in the form of a four station carousel.

This system allows the sub-frames to be continually transferred from station to station via a motorised centre column with inverter control for line side speed adjustment. The carousel includes four off-overhead out riggers terminating with four off-tooling fixtures, including linear mounted adjustable tooling and clamping to accommodate tooling changes, helping minimise down time between batches.

The carousel has been designed to allow 360˚ rotation in two axis to gain access to all areas of the subframe. Rotation is via a 5:1 reduction gearbox and hand wheel with sprung loaded plungers.

To reduce overall costs, with the exception of the centre pivot, the vertical and horizontal rotations are manual, eliminating the need for drives, brakes and pneumatics.

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