DIGAFER has developed a new cutting and treatment line for very thick pieces, at the request of GRANILOURO, a leading company in the natural stone sector.
The line, totally automatic, is composed of two cutting machines with 7 and 9 heads that cut the slabs, together with 3 industrial robots that carry out the subsequent treatments. It is designed for a large production of kerbs, paving and large format pieces up to 4.5 metres long and 2.2 metres wide.
Industrial robotisation, a growing trend in the stone sector, allows the entire process to be carried out automatically, from the loading of slabs weighing up to 7000 kg, bevel cutting, flaming and the subsequent palletisation of the finished pieces, which can weigh up to 360 kg each.
The robustness of the line has been studied and calculated ad-hoc, given that the granite slabs to be cut are up to 30 cm thick and weigh up to 7 tons.
The line is also equipped with a profile reader for the material to be cut, a 4-sided flaming robot, an automatic waste disposal system, and a palletising robot that can use suction cups or a retractable gripper to grip the pieces and thus assemble the pallets with the kerbs, paving or special pieces.
With this type of investment, GRANILOURO is clearly committed to production increases linked to automation that contain handling costs and guarantee the quality necessary to remain a leader in competitive international markets.
With such technologically ambitious customers, DIGAFER faces technical challenges that allow it to be at the forefront of the stone sector.
GRANILOURO web link: www.granilouro.com
DIGAFER web link: www.digafer.es
DIGAFER presents a new AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE WAGON for stone factories
The technological development has been evident in recent years in the stone industry, now take a step forward also in the vehicles commonly known as AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE WAGONS, meant for transporting blocks of stone or cut material throughout the factory of slab production with this new project.
The vehicles have been very rudimentary, they needed an operator who was exclusively a 'driver' and would not go faster than 4m/ minute, that is, very slow. The new concept that DIGAFER proposes was born out of the innovation plan of the company EUROROCA, located in Porriño (Spain), based on the optimisation of the internal logistics of the factory adopting concepts of INDUSTRY 4.0.
The novelty resides in that the AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE WAGON automatically identifies each of the stopping stations, be they cutting machines such as Multiwired or gangsaws, or 'dead ways', so as to elaborate routes, program the loading and unloading tasks, and shorten the production times.
Supporting loads of 100 tons, and, moreover, reaching 15m/ minute, which is a substantial improvement in itself, the AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE WAGON identifies whether it is moves with or without load, and by means of laser safety scanners and lateral barriers of light curtain, it moves with total safety throughout the factory.
With both the implanting of the AUTONOMOUS SHUTTLE WAGON and the modernisation of the machines in its factory in Porriño, EUROROCA has increased its capacity of processing natural stone in consonance with the increase of revenues of the company.
DIGAFER, specialised in making machines for the processing of natural stone and industrial robots, is betting on automating the movements of transporters, wagons, stevedores and other elements of a factory of stone to achieve important improvements in production, quality and cost savings.
