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Positech Industrial manipulator arms are engineered
to enhance worker safety, perform challenging
material handling tasks, and increase productivity.
Manipulators allow the operator to perform tasks
that typical hoist or overhead lifting systems
cannot. Industrial manipulators allow the
operator to perform functions such as reach-in,
reach-under or into areas with overhead
obstructions. Ergonomic Partners will work with you
to provide a manipulator for your specific
application.
Manipulator arms are available in direct mount to
the floor, on A pedestal, mobile or portable bases,
wall or flange mounts, fixed overhead mounts, and
dual rail bridge systems. Each can be hydraulically,
electrically or pneumatically powered. If our
standard models don't meet your needs, customized
manipulators can be built to your specifications.
Manipulators can be provided with a wide array of
tooling options, including gripper tools, vacuum,
magnets, or simple mechanical tooling. In addition
these tools can pitch, rotate, flip or telescope
your payload.
Ergonomic Partners can provide a full range of
manipulators from simple hoist suspended models to
fully automated manipulators. As an alternative for
reaching in, under and around obstacles, manipulator
arm systems allow an operator to precisely and
effortlessly position loads regardless of physical
strength. Fitted with custom designed end of arm
tooling, our manipulator arm systems perform a wide
variety of material handling applications.
Common applications include:
Automotive, truck and heavy
equipment assembly for body components,
power train, final assembly, decking fuel tanks,
sunroof installation, instrument panel
insertion, seat handling, heavy component
manipulation, welding positioning, Huck gun
positioning, paint line loading and unloading
Die and mold handling,
loading, unloading, separation, maintenance
Forging, foundry, investment
& die casting hot parts handling, molds,
dies, secondary process machine loading and
unloading, racking, palletizing, dunnage loading
Machine loading and unloading,
precision parts placement, reaching into
overhead obstructed vertical machining centers,
lathes, grinders, work piece inversion or
pitching
HVAC handling of
components and sub assemblies, coils,
compressors, fans, blowers, burners, control
panels, sheet metal doors, skins, roofs, decks,
finished units for light residential and
commercial
Tire and rubber manufacturing,
materials for the Banbury, pigment, regrind
scrap, green tread, green tires, mold loading
and unloading
Printing and converting,
roll pitching or tipping, shaft handling,
spindle loading and unloading, packaging,
palletizing, signature log handling
Food processing, drums,
bags, boxes and cartons, containers
High-tech assembly,
computers, printers, monitors, weapon
components, seeker and guidance modules, rocket
motor casings, ordinance handling,
Chemical manufacturing,
drums, bags, boxes, cartons, dispensing to
chargers and reactors, palletizing finished
product containers
Distribution and warehouses,
loading and unloading heavy payloads from racks
and shelves, pick car lift assists, sortation,
palletizing, depalletizing
Aeronautics and aerospace,
component handling, drill and rivet gun
positioning, seeker and guidance module
manipulation, rocket motor casings, ordinance
We can construct manipulators from
stainless steel for use in sanitary or corrosive
environments, and also fully-integrated lean
manufacturing assembly systems incorporating our
manipulators.
Industrial manipulators are used in both light and
heavy industrial environments for handling payloads
from 10 to 1,000 pounds. We can provide
special features including:
Powered lifting and lowering
Automatic balancing
Preset balancing
Any combination of the above
Increasing or decreasing load
weight for pouring or dispensing
Manipulators give the operator
precise control when lifting offset loads, fragile
or delicate loads, high temperature or hazardous
loads. Low noise levels and low maintenance
make manipulators acceptable in a wide range of
handling environments.
Standard manipulators are provided
in mild painted steel, but are available in
stainless steel as your application may require.
Food, pharmaceutical and clean room applications are
available.
What can a manipulator do for your
company?
An Ergonomic Partners Case Study
Three workers' compensation claims in three years,
as a result of back injury, prompted a television
receiver manufacturer to examine the health and
safety conditions of their production line.
The manufacturer makes television sets for the local
market. For the last 25 years at the factory, when
television sets had reached the end of the
production line, two workers were needed to manually
lift the sets off the conveyor belt and onto a
pallet ready to be fork lifted into an adjacent
storeroom. On an average day, 300 sets would be
transferred.
The current trend is larger screens, and as the size
of picture tubes significantly increased, television
sets began to weigh up to 135 lbs. Employees
involved in lifting the sets onto the pallets, soon
began to visit the first-aid room more and more
frequently, primarily complaining of muscle soreness
and backache.
Within three years, three Worker's Compensation
claims had been lodged, directly caused by back
injury from lifting the sets, resulting in 141 days
of absence and costing the company over $70,000 in
direct costs.
After consultation with occupational health, safety
and technical advisory staff the decision was made
to install an industrial manipulator.
The decision was based on the flexibility of the
devices, the ease with which they operated, and
their ability to maintain the required flow of
goods. Also, a major consideration was the
performance and low maintenance costs of the
previous manipulator which had been installed in
another area of the factory three years earlier to
lift and incline picture tubes into cabinets.
With the introduction of the manipulator, an
employee previously required to lift television sets
from the conveyor belt straight onto a pallet could
now become the machine's operator, using it to
transfer the set from the conveyor belt directly
onto a pallet in the adjacent storeroom 20 feet
away.
The custom-made manipulator was installed with an
overhead bridge crane system to allow maximum
mobility and area coverage.
The risk of injury to employees has certainly been
minimized in more ways than one. Bending and
lifting are no longer required to transfer the
television sets to the pallets, and the ergonomic
design of the manipulator ensures that muscle
soreness and back strain will be avoided.
An added advantage has been that the plant has
eliminated the need to use the electric forklift
between the factory and the storeroom, which has
further reduced the risk of injury to its employees.
The introduction of the pneumatic manipulator has
also meant that more employees are able to perform
the task of unloading the television sets from the
conveyor belt, thus the job rotation scheme already
in practice at the factory has been broadened.
One particularly positive aspect has been that
female employees at the factory are also able to
perform the task. Now, with the manipulator,
transferring is virtually effortless, and many of
the women on the staff are welcoming the opportunity
to increase their skills by learning to operate the
new equipment.
While potential productivity gains were not a
catalyst in decisions to invest in the manipulator,
only one operator is required at any time, thus
making an extra employee available for work in other
areas of the factory.
The plant anticipated a strong return on investment
through reduced compensation claims, absenteeism and
insurance premiums. The plant believes the
manipulator would save the company at least $100,000
in the first year of operation. Following the
performance of the current installations,
manipulators have now been installed throughout
their other factories.
