Tectra Automation supplies handling system for Iveco assembly plant

Tectra Automation supplied two Schmalz vacuum handling systems to Iveco South Africa’s bus manufacturing facility in Rosslyn, Pretoria. The handling systems will lift and transport the roof and side panels for assembly and fitment onto the buses assembled at the plant.

Each system consists of ten 150-mm silicon bellows cups, together with slide valves, tubing and a Schmalz EVE-TR40 vacuum pump. Safety systems, that warn operators of a loss in vacuum in the event of a power failure, were implemented on both systems.

The roof panel handling system is used to transfer the parts from the storage pack to a workstation where they are prepared for assembly. Once this stage is completed, the system transports and places the finished panels onto the bus. The bellows cups secure the roof panels across their entire 14-m length and 2.8-m width. These panels weigh approximately 200 kg.

With the surface of these panels rough and uneven, the cups had to be capable of physically adapting to irregular surfaces, and needed a vacuum pump with a high-enough airflow to compensate for the slight leakage this surface inevitably caused.

The side panels are lifted from the storage rack vertically, and transported to the bus where they can be attached with rivets. The side panels are 11 m long, 1.5 m wide and weigh 180 kg. As stipulated by Iveco, the system has been designed to accommodate a 15-m long panel in the future.

Tectra Automation designed and supplied the frames that house the vacuum components using Bosch Rexroth aluminium extrusions.

Handling system for Iveco assembly plant