Robotics‑powered decorative coating from a single source

Coating meets automation

Singulus Technologies AG has become large and successful with production systems for CDs, DVDs and Blu-ray discs. The company has been able to transfer the know-how it has gained in vacuum thin-film technology to ever new sectors - the latest development is DECOLINE systems for decorative coating. When it comes to automation technology, Singulus relies on proven solutions from Mitsubishi Electric. Robots from the same manufacturer are now also used in the latest systems.

Challenge: Fully automated surface coating solution

The heart of the DECOLINE II series systems from Singulus for decorative coating of plastic or glass components is the polycoater. Here, the surface of the substrates is coated with a metal or metal alloy under vacuum. Before sputter deposition, the components are primed and then coated again. The automation technology must ensure that all process steps run fully automatically in an inline process: Loading, transportation in the modular system, priming, sputter deposition, painting and unloading. Singulus relies here on control and drive technology from Mitsubishi Electric. The painting of complex-shaped components is best achieved with industrial robots. Mitsubishi Electric offers vertical articulated robots from the RV-FR series, which are well suited to the task with a reach of around one meter and a maximum load of 7 kilograms. The challenge was to obtain ATEX certification for the robot, which is mandatory for a painting application.

Solution: Six-axis robot with ATEX certification

Mitsubishi Electric has initiated ATEX certification for Zone 2 and Zone 1 in order to provide the customer with a solution for their system. As the robot kinematics already meet the technical requirements for ATEX certification, the certification was completed within a short space of time. The explosion protection specialist AEP Zimmer from Mannheim has certified the robots in the RV series. They achieve explosion protection class II 3G c IIB T3 Gc. As no technical modifications are required for the proof of conformity, they could also be delivered without any major delays.

Result: 6 second cycle time and simple operation

As the specialists were familiar with programming control and drive technology from Mitsubishi Electric, programming the robots was also easy. To make operation of the DECOLINE II as simple as possible, a recipe management system was programmed. The user can define new geometries without any programming effort by simply entering a few parameters. With the fully automated systems, customers can coat up to 80 million parts per year.