Drive Train Assembly

Vrades manufactures assembly units and complete assembly lines for the assembly of various parts of the drive train of passenger and commercial vehicles. These includes for example universal-joints and complete universal-joint shafts, in addition, Vrades provides equipment for the assembly of axles, tie rods and other components for the automotive industry.

Function volume

Vrades offers fully automatic assembly machines for passenger car chassis components with ball joints. For example these are used for the assembly of transverse links and tie bars, torque roll restrictors and external joints with one or two ball joints. Joints in POM or cap design as well as with plastic or steel housings can be assembled. Prior to the assembly, measurements as well as feature presence controls on housings and ball studs are realized. During the assembly of ball studs, shell and cap, greasing, insertion as well as ultrasonic welding, depending on the technology, and/or roller burnishing are typical processes. After the ball joint assembly, a torque check is realized. Subsequently, the stud side is greased, the boot and the two expanding rings are mounted and a clamping ring seat test is realized. Besides the assembly of ball joints, rubber metal bearings are inserted in an additional module. The turnkey assembly machines operate according to the rotary transfer principle and comprise, specific for the application, up to 24 process stations as well as all required feeding, linking and handling fixtures. These convince by compact structure, cycle times of up to 5.5 seconds per joint side and the fully automatic, process-reliable feeding of parts.

 

Application range

The compact assembly machines are used for the automatic assembly of chassis components with ball joints. Typical parts are transverse links and tie bars, torque roll restrictors and external joints of different types. User industries are the automobile industry and its sub-suppliers.

 

Product features

– Assembly machines with application-dedicated equipment

– (Typical) processes: greasing, insertion, ultrasonic welding, crimping, measuring, torque control, leak test

– Cycle times of up to 5.5 seconds per joint side

– Part feeding: fully automatic, process-reliable

– Up to 24 stations with firm cycle

– Satellite rotary tables for pre-assembly processes

 

Function principle

Taking as example the torque roll restrictor, the assembly sequence can be shown exemplary. A typical assembly machine consists of a 24-station rotary table and two smaller modules for the pre-assembly processes. On the first pre-assembly module, ball stud and shells are mounted, including greasing, measuring and testing. On the second pre-assembly module, the small clamping ring is mounted on the sealing boot. The proper assembly sequence starts with the manual placing of the roll restrictor housing into a component seat on the feeding belt. Prior to handing over of the housing to the rotary table, its correct position is checked by mechanical probing. Incorrectly oriented parts are ejected via a chute. A pick&place unit puts the correctly oriented housings onto a rotary table. Now the pre-assembled ball stud group is inserted. Subsequently, in a further station, the sub-assembly is fixed with a steel cover in the steel housing by roller burnishing; alternatively, the linkage plastic shell to steel housing can also be realized by ultrasonic welding.

As function check of the ball joint, in the next station a torque control is realized. In the following stations, the boot is assembled. For this, at first the ball stud is greased in the deflection area, an assembly sleeve is positioned and subsequently, the pre-assembled boot sub-assembly is placed via the assembly sleeve. Then the big clamping ring is mounted and checked for correct seating; the assembly sleeve is removed and then, the small clamping ring is checked for correct seating. Every joint side is mounted in an own circulation of the rotary table. For this purpose, a robot turns the components with double sided ball joint. For chassis components with one sided joint, rubber metal bearings are inserted on the opposite side in an additional module. A final sorting of good/bad parts is realized by IO / NIO conveyor belts.

 

Structure

The assembly machines are supplied as turn-key, customized systems with feeding, linking and handling fixtures. Optionally, a boot leak test can also be integrated.