ROBOTIC WELDING

ROBOTIC WELDING
22/10/2014

In order to remain at the forefront of fabrication, Thos Storey has invested heavily in plant and equipment in 2014, and one of the purchases has been a state of the art robotic welding cell.

The new Panasonic TA1600 has a number of very positive advantages over older styles of welding robot.  For a start, it utilises pulse welding which brings benefits in two ways; firstly it reduces the amount of power used, and secondly it significantly reduces the incidents of spatter.

Leading on from this, the robot is designed so that the welding wire is actually used as a probe.  The wire tracks the seams of built parts and therefore can adapt to nuances or slight changes in fit-up so allowing for a consistently good, and visually acceptable, weld.  In addition, the wire probe is also able to detect the location of ‘third party add ons’ such as bosses, pipes and so forth, therefore allowing for them to be fully welded without issue.

A harmonised axis is utilised which means that product and/or seams can be welded in one continuous flow.  The major benefit of this is seen where sealed units are to be produced.  The continual weld, with only one start-stop, means that the chances of leaks or holes are very much reduced.

The overall benefit, however, of this new welding technology is basically that is produces a very neat looking weld which ensures a good overall finish to any product.