Brother Sewing Machine Showroom Chennai- VS Sewing Machines
Sewing robot provides new freedom in the design of seat covers
A renowned manufacturer of automatic sewing machines has
introduced a six-axis robot for intricate sewing applications in
automotive interiors. The new technology enables particularly
high-quality designs to be realised with parallel curved seams.
A
Yaskawa Motoman GP7 is the basis of the fully automatic RoQom 6000
sewing system. / Ein Motoman GP7 von Yaskawa bildet die Basis für das
vollautomatisierte Nähsystem RoQom 6000. (Source: YASKAWA)
KMF Maschinenbau GmbH in Schwäbisch-Gmünd has been specialising in
the manufacture of automatic sewing machines since 1973. While the
customer base at its start-up consisted mainly of clothing
manufacturers, today most orders come from the automotive sector – and
these are customers who demand top quality.
Dietmar Kuhn, plant manager at KMF, specifies the requirements: “When
it comes to leather seat covers for premium vehicles, the parallel
decorative stitching must be accurate to a tolerance of half a denier –
and with a 0.4 mm thick thread that means 0.2 mm. That’s why these
high-quality curved seams in parallel lines are virtually impossible to
produce by hand.” Besides that, well-trained seamstresses who can
cope with the stress of intense concentration in piece- and shiftwork
are hard to find.
In order to comply with customer requirements for high quality
appearance from the automotive industry there is a constant need for
new, innovative solutions. Subject to the dictates of quality and
cost-effectiveness, the experts at KMF see gigantic potential in
robotics for providing process-reliable solutions. They have already
acquired robotics experience in the automatic application of spray
adhesives to upholstery and are using this know-how for the development
of robot-aided sewing technology. http://www.vssewingmachine.com/sewing-machine-showroom-perambur/
Need for fast and precise six-axis robots
The
sewing robot is extremely user-friendly in operation. / Die Bedienung
der Nähroboter ist sehr anwenderfreundlich. (Source: YASKAWA)
The criteria of dynamism, range and precision played a decisive role
in the selection of a suitable robot. Because the required tolerance on
the finished part was 0.2 mm and leather as a natural material is
subject to variations, the company set about locating a six-axis robot
with a repeatability that was better by about the power of ten. In
addition, it was extremely important to KMF that the robot manufacturer
should have a global network, as 75% of its automatic sewing machines
are for export.
“Following an intensive market analysis we found the ideal
combination in Yaskawa as a system partner and the Motoman GP7. With a
repeatability of 0.03 mm the robot is extremely accurate, its reach of
almost one metre also fits the bill, and dynamically the six-axis robot
can keep pace with our sewing machines,” stresses Kuhn. This robot
forms the basis for the fully automatic RoQom 6000 sewing system, which
also comprises a sewing machine, image processing system, safety SPS and
corresponding templates in which the parts are secured.
Challenging tasks for market introduction
Dietmar
Kuhn, Plant Manager at KMF, envisages enormous potential for the sewing
robot. / Dietmar Kuhn, Betriebsleiter bei KMF, sieht für die Nähroboter
gewaltiges Potenzial. (Source: YASKAWA)
At the launch of the RoQom 6000 the automatic sewing cell was called
upon to demonstrate its performance in a demanding application. The task
set was to produce parallel curved seams on leather seat covers for
vehicles in the premium segment. The extra effort involved with this
decorative stitching is justified not only visual grounds – as Kuhn
knows, it also performs an important comfort function: “Top-stitching
causes three-dimensional deformation of the surface, which contributes
to improved air circulation and in turn prevents the formation of sweat.”
With the robot sewing cell the automatic production of curved seams
in lockstitch is fast, process-reliable and economical. Only the
insertion and removal of the article in the template firmly mounted on
the robot wrist is still manual. All further production steps are shared
by the robot and sewing machine. The robot exactly follows the
predetermined path of the seam in time with the sewing machine. With an
accuracy of one tenth of a millimetre, the Motoman GP7 turns and tilts
the article, factoring in the correction values of the stationary image
processing in real time, in the course of which the tolerances of the
natural material leather are compensated.
High-quality appearance
Automatic
production of the lockstitch curved seams is fast, process-reliable and
economical with the sewing robot. / Mit dem Nähroboter gelingt die
automatische Herstellung der Kurvennähte im Steppstich schnell,
prozesssicher und wirtschaftlich. (Source: YASKAWA)
The articles that leave the plant have a high-quality appearance and
are characterised by a degree of precision that would be impossible to
achieve by manual work. “Those who are not familiar with our sewing robot will no doubt question the manufacturing process of these articles,” says Kuhn. In contrast, manual sewing processes are prone to error and require intensive quality checks.
With the combination of sewing robot and camera-aided tolerance
compensation, RoQom 6000 rises to a new quality level. The automated
process results in a significant reduction in the defect rate. Rejects
of the expensive items are virtually eliminated, adherence to delivery
deadlines is improved and much time is saved.
But reproducible quality and a high cost-efficiency of the process
are only one side of the medal. Users from the automotive industry are
particularly enthusiastic about the new freedom they gain with regard to
intricate seam contours: “There are no bounds to the creativity of
the designers when it comes to seam contours. This will have an impact
on interiors in future, and permit even greater individualisation,” of that Kuhn is certain.
The
robot introduces remarkable precision to sewing processes and permits
new designs in the vehicle interior. / Der Roboter bringt beeindruckende
Präzision in Nähprozesse und erlaubt damit neue Designs im
Fahrzeuginterieur. (Source: YASKAWA)
Besides the sewing of car seat covers, KMF has already received
enquiries from the automotive industry for door panels for side trim and
three-dimensional sewing on the dashboard.
Kuhn also sees a glowing future for robot-aided sewing in other areas, such as the sewing of filters and technical textiles: “This process offers unlimited potential. One of the enquiries recently received is for robot-sewn blankets for new-born babies.”
Industrie 4.0-compatible process
The use of robotics featuring state-of-the-art control technology
finally creates the prerequisite for integrating sewing processes into
Industrie 4.0 environments. For this purpose, the modular stand-alone
cells can be simply incorporated into existing processes. RoQom 6000
systems are highly flexible when it comes to conversion to other product
versions and plant extension. Individual cells thus can be extended
step by step to complete production lines in which manual loading and
removal of the article is replaced by automatic loading.
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