Valk Welding: Realised projects

Villeroy & Boch Roeselare

Villeroy & Boch employs Valk Welding spraying robot

At several occasions in the past, Valk Welding has proven not to be afraid of specific problems. Even after the delivery of hundreds of welding robots, every new project requires a specific solution, the engineers of Valk Welding sink there teeth into. With use of its know-how in the field of robot technology, this has resulted in expanding the company's activities. In this way, many a new project has been successfully realised, not only in the field of welding but also for many other robot handling applications. This was followed as a matter of course, by the birth of a separate business unit for non-welding applications, named Valk Handling.

 

A fine example is the employment of robots for polyester spraying of synthetic bath tubs. At the end of the nineties, Valk Welding  developed and delivered several spraying and milling robots to a number of well-known manufacturers in this field. Villeroy & Boch in Roeselare, Belgium, was one of the first and due to the success this year decided to employ a second line. Plant manager Bart Vandepitte: “Before we decided to take the step towards robot technology in 1998, all bath tubs were manually sprayed with a polyester and fibre glass mixture. Not only is this very labourous work, but moreover the material is never evenly distributed. Besides the advantages of automation, the quantity and distribution can be set and repeated precisely with a robot. Due tho their specific character, these are not readily available standard robot applications. Valk Welding accepted the project with both hands and finally delivered 2 polyester spraying robots and a milling robot. They both form a part of a line production for synthetic bath tubs in batch volumes starting at 100 pieces. In doing so, the company took a first important step forward, reducing the passage time for a bath tub with 50%. Each year, about 80,000 bath tubs leave the line.”

2nd line for smaller series
The basic material is a formed acrylic plate, that becomes strong by spraying polyester and glass fibre on the outside. The formed acrylic plate is manually placed on a swage and rolled-out manually after spraying. After the drying and hardening process, the edges of the bath tub are finished with a sawing and milling robot, which is also used for the required holes for overflow and discharge. The complete logistic for this process is being automated with the use of conveyor systems. Bart Vandepitte: “This concept is completely intended for the production of large series. That is why we have set up a second line this year in which smaller series of various types can be successively processed. For this, Valk Welding has delivered a spraying robot with two clamping stations, for simultaneous changing and polyester spraying. The clamping stations can be made with or without swage, so that various types can easily be clamped. Spraying gun and peripheral equipment to feed the glass fibre are supplied by third parties.”

In doing so, the Belgian production plant of Villeroy & Boch has taken a further step towards robot technology. The major advantage of the 2nd line is not only the saving of labour costs (before, these bath tubs were sprayed by hand), but also the even distribution of material. Bart Vandepitte: “For the 2nd line too, we took our chance with Valk Welding. Not only because of the perfect support and service rendered, but also because the Panasonic robots have proven to be almost trouble free. The project, that was realised this summer, is an example for the other European production establishments. Very likely, other European branchs of the Villeroy & Boch group will start to use this robot technology for their production”.