What could be possibly the first fully automated friction bolt manufacturing line in the world has now been installed by Dywidag Systems International (DSI) at Bennetts Green. This step change means that material is now converted from a feed coil to finished goods without being touched by human hands. The process incorporates the existing roll former which produces a swaged friction bolt tube.

 

The new automation employs a five axis robot to collect the tubes from the roll former and load them onto a V block conveyor system.

The conveyor system consists of a series of stations which use rotators to orient the tubes and rings, completes the welding process and conducts quality inspection of the weld using a combination of lasers and cameras.

 

After completing the manufacturing process a packing robot removes the finished bolts from the conveyor and assembles them into finished packs for delivery to customer sites or galvaniser. When operating at full speed the system will produce a pack of 150 friction bolts every 10 minutes.

 

The introduction of this system will significantly reduce the labour  required for friction bolt manufacture which will help to ensure that DSI remains cost competitive on these products. In addition, a significant reduction in both manual handling and factory footprint has been achieved.