PRESENTATION OF PROBLEM
During induction hardening of metal sheet forming tools, the induction coils must be guided very accurately and with perfectly constant speed. Since this process might take several hours, this task is usually undertaken by a robot. However, setting up the robot often takes much longer than the actual hardening process.
SOLUTION
Using a contact shoe with a force sensor, the hardening specialist can set up the robot, specify process parameters and intervene during the hardening process if corrections are needed. The time-consuming and exhausting guiding of the hardening tool, however, is done by the robot. In this way, it is possible to reduce the required time for the hardening of metal sheet forming tools from several days to less than one day.