| Introduction : |
The stem of a replacement hip joint starts life as a lost wax casting. The skin of the casting is removed by grinding on a linishing belt. Skilled engineers manipulate the stem casting, taking care to work evenly around the entire surface. With a significant amount of material to be removed, the castings heat up considerably causing burns to the engineers hands. |
| Fanuc Arcmate Senior Robot grinding hip joints : |
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| Solution : |
The stem, which has been previously mounted in a special holder, is picked up by the Fanuc Arcmate Senior Robot and presented to a number of linishing stations. The belts run over profiled wheels allowing the robot to use the resulting shape to smoothly finish the whole outside surface of the stem. The robot doesn't suffer from burnt fingers, and finishes the process much more quickly than the operators. The skilled craftsmen have dissipated throughout the factory, their expertise employed in the quest for ever higher productivity and quality. |