Saw technology changes in subtle ways, as the age-old process of running a blade through material can only be enhanced so much. But as saw manufacturers tweak their offerings to make their machines easier to operate and more efficient and productive, they are also invested in bringing material to the saw and automating the method through which cut parts are offloaded.
Understanding those needs, Cosen Saws recently unveiled a new robotic offloading system. At the 2024 International Manufacturing Technology Show – IMTS, those who visited McCormick Place’s north building might have gotten a look at the system in action. It consists of a robot that utilizes magnetic end-of-arm tooling that picks up parts off the saw table and deposits them in bins.
“We’re trying to partner with a lot more integrators that can add to the saw’s overall efficiency and make user error less of a thing,” says Hayden Peterson, marketing manager at Cosen. “Also, operators in our industry seem to be a huge turnover position. It’s very hard to find those 10-year saw veterans that know the saw like the back of their hand. Having automation that can combat that is something we’re confident will help.”
Peterson says the initial idea to bring robotic material handling into the mix with Cosen saws came from Kent Hughes, the company’s vice president of sales and marketing.
“Kent is in the field constantly – he’s in the workplaces,” Peterson says. “He’s hearing the feedback and what the needs are. When he’s talking to a lot these people in the field, the one thing he keeps hearing is the need for automation integration. It got to the point where he said, ‘this is something we need to pursue.’”
During the demonstration at IMTS, the robot picked up 2-in. steel solid rounds off Cosen’s flagship bandsaw, the G-320. The weight capacity on this robot model is 15 lbs. Peterson says the magnetic device at the end of the robotic arm was a good choice for this application as it offers a less intrusive method of picking up parts.
“You can go to scale where the arm comes in and the grabber clamps onto the material and moves it,” he says of customizing for the removal of larger parts in different applications.
Robotic assistance
Cosen outsourced the robot for the material handling, choosing ACT Robots Inc., based in Bristol, Conn. ACT produces a dozen or so handling and general robots in 4- and 6-axis models and also produces two welding robot models.
Tyson Bryan, sales specialist at Cosen, says the robot is programmed to identify exactly where parts are located on the saw table, then pick up a part and drop it in a dedicated bin or space within the bin. During the IMTS demonstration, a square plastic bin was segmented into 20 sections and the robot was programmed to drop a specific number of parts in each section of the bin.
“It could be 100 different programs based on the different material sizes,” Bryan says of the programming that is adaptable to just about any type of job. “The programming is material-specific and size-based. Once the robot fills up that bin, the operator comes and takes the material away.”
Peterson adds that in some facilities, an operator will manage multiple saws at the same time. Having the robot manage the material handling means there is a “lot less material the operator has to pick up,” he says, which reduces physical strain.
There is also the safety component. While many saws today include safety mechanisms that make it difficult for an operator to put themselves in danger, having a robot pick up the parts coming off the saw blade basically eliminates the risk of injuries. To ensure the robot is not damaged, it is programmed to engage only when the blade is up, stopped and away from the table.
The material offloading feature is currently being sold as an add-on to the G-320, but Peterson says the plan is to integrate it with other fully automatic saws in Cosen’s line.
“With what we’ve already been able to achieve with the G-320,” he says, “it’s going to be very easy to translate that to all of our larger production machines.”
Cue the QR code
Another automated integration Cosen recently released is a QR code reader called Q-Cut that should significantly reduce operator error and ensure more efficient cutting.
A project manager simply accesses the Q-Cut dashboard on a desktop computer to generate job orders and create the parameters for each application, which includes material type and thickness, angle, length and number of cuts, among other information. The work order is then created and associated with a unique QR code, which the operator reads with their scanning gun at the saw. The cut list is then automatically uploaded to the saw.
Peterson says the Q-Cut technology, which is powered by Cosen’s software, Mechalogix, vastly improves workflow and saves on costly scrap.
“As soon as the operator accidentally types in wrong information,” he says of the traditional method of manually entering cut list information at the saw, “you have a full job where the material gets wasted. The robot is running and grabbing that material, which is the wrong material, so that is a lot of man hours, power and resources that are wasted because of one little mistake.”
Automated loading
Cosen is developing a material handling system at the other end of the saw for even more automated features related to loading material. Yu-Hsien Ho, director of channel sales and marketing at Cosen, says the system features a 3-degree inclined loading area with a simple four-step lift-and-load configuration via hydraulic cylinders and cam actuator.
To reduce impact and dampen the sound of material loading, mechanical and cushioned stoppers are located throughout the table. An integrated PLC and handheld remote control allow workers to operate the loader independently or in synchronization with the bandsaw machine.
“In addition to its automatic loading feature,” Ho says, “when multiple bars are required for production, the loader also works as a regular steel roller table with solid machined rollers spread out evenly to facilitate smooth material feeding up to the machine’s intended capacity of 12.7 in. by 14.9 in. wide.”
Ho says Cosen has experienced a surge in demand for automation ever since the global pandemic when the labor shortage began to really impact manufacturers. He mirrors what others at the company have said about the automated features becoming “inevitable.”
“Another factor is safety,” Ho says about the increase in automation. “Employers want to reduce workplace injuries, and the best way to do that is to automate the process as much as possible to limit the touch points between the operator and the material. With the loader feeding into the saw for cutting and the robot on the outfeed side taking cut pieces and palletizing it, the operator only has to be responsible for loading material and moving the cut and palletized material downstream for the next process.”
Another perk with the automated loader is the automated “First Cut” feature, which is Cosen’s technology that automatically detects the front edge of a piece of material. This eliminates the need for saw operators to measure material by hand and allows them to easily process unwanted trim or make their desired first cut.
Ho says intelligent material remnant management can also detect the back end of the material, “maximizing the use of remnant before out of stock, and ejecting the remnant to the front discharge table when a new bar is available and loaded into position.” He also mentions that due to clamping and coolant mechanisms on the loader, operators can load multiple bars and set the saw to cut all the material.
“The operator only has to worry about making sure the loader is filled with material,” Ho says. “If a customer has to cut 1,000 pieces of 2-in. round material at a certain length, this complete system will save them a lot of time and frees up the operator to take care of other items downstream.”
Thanks for taking a moment to read about Cosen Saws’ recently unveiled robotic offloading system. And a special thanks to the experts at Cosen for speaking to Sawing Productivity. To stay informed about all the sawing technology that matters, visit our dedicated sawing category.
