Failure-free assembly: multi-axis energy chains on spot welding robots in vehicle construction

• What was needed: triflex® R multi-axis energy chain
• Requirements: 550 welding points per car body part demand the most difficult movements from the robots, so they were looking for a particularly flexible and reliable permanent solution
• Industry: Automotive industry
• Success for the customer: the new multi-axis energy chain can handle even the most demanding movements without any problems and guides all cables safely; there has not been a single failure since it was installed, saving the customer time and money

In this semi-automated assembly line in the automotive industry, Fanuc S430i-W robots are used for welding work on the car body. Two such spot-welding robots are used at one station to process the car body. However, with 550 spot welds per body part, the robots are required to perform extremely difficult movements that demand maximum flexibility in application. In the past, this has led to many cable breaks, which must be avoided at all costs. Because at this particularly important station within the assembly line, even just one minute of robot downtime can lead to the entire assembly line breaking down. In order to avoid high costs in the future and to be able to guarantee reliable operation in the long term, a new maintenance-free and fault-free cable solution was sought.

VE Commercial Vehicles opted for a triflex® R energy chain due to the high demands placed on the movements of the robot arm. The 3D chain has been in use on the assembly line since 2008 and safely guides and protects the robots' cables. It has been specially developed for demanding multi-axis robots and effortlessly handles complex turning and swivelling movements in 3D applications. The triflex® combines high tensile force absorption with a high degree of flexibility, allowing a twist of approx. ± 10° per chain link in the longitudinal axis. A defined bend radius ensures a particularly long service life for all guided cables and hoses.
And the change has paid off for the customer: since using the triflex® energy chain, there have been no more failures, saving valuable time and costs during operation. The investment was amortised after just a short time.