Hole Covering by Robot - new solutions from acos and tesa

Sealing production-related bodywork openings in manufacturing, or Hole Covering, is one of the focus application fields for tesa solutions in the automotive industry. acos GmbH, a subsidiary of tesa AG, makes precision die-cuts for this application based on tesa adhesive tapes. Compared with conventional plastic or rubber plugs, acos die-cuts have advantages both in quality and cost. With new application technologies, tesa and acos are opening up new potentials.

Système d'application automatisé de pièces matricées

Until now, the application of plugs and die-cuts has always been carried out by hand. acos, in partnership with EDAG, has for the first time developed a system solution for the fully automated application of die-cuts by robot. This is a big step towards acos becoming a systems provider, another advantage over plugs that will lead to more and more OEMs using die-cuts in future.

The new application system was first tested by EDAG in July 2006 and applied the die-cuts precisely to within 0.1mm. According to customer needs, the robot arms can work with several suction pads at once and thus be exactly matched to cycle time requirements. Die-cuts of differing materials and geometries can thus be positioned exactly. And the robot solution has still more to offer: continuously good adhesive performance by self-adhesive die-cuts depends on the contact pressure. Here, the automated solution has a consistently high level of quality which, thanks to the protocol kept by the system, also contributes to quality assurance.

The system solution’s success is based to a great extent on the use of a special dispensing unit, developed by SRD, which peels the die-cuts from the liner. The robot picks them up with a suction pad.

Differing hole covering materials, flexible or stiff, presented a special challenge, one taken up with great success by EDAG and SRD. The result is the secure application of die-cuts made of flexible cloth, aluminium or very stiff plastic.

The target for all the cooperating companies now is to take the system solution to the customer. Further extensive product presentations to almost all car manufacturers are planned for the coming months.