Bosch-Rexroth Readies New Conveyors, Targets Solar Panels

B-R's new conveyors, to be introduced at NMW will include units that carry heavier loads and handle solar panels

John Dodge, Editor-in-Chief -- Design News, September 7, 2008

Bosch Rexroth is gearing up for several new conveyor introductions at National Manufacturing Week later this month in Chicago. They include units that will carry heavier loads and ones which will handle solar panels.

The solar push springs from the growth in that industry, according to Kevin Gingerich, director of marketing services for B-R's Linear Motion and Assembly Technologies.

"The solar industry does not know what it needs and is growing at 40 percent a year," says Gingerich. "They are getting to the point where they need to automate. There are no standards. We want to polish up this technology and create a standard."

The new conveyor breaks from tradition because the solar panel itself is the work piece carrier. "A typical assembly line has a [separate] work piece carrier. You can stop it, turn it and lift it," says Gingerich. "In this case, the solar panel is the transport medium."

B-R will also add two new heavy-weight conveyors to its TS or Transfer System line. The TS5 will carry up to 660 lbs and the TS6 will carry up to 1,000 lbs when it comes out next year. The TS6 will be a static display at NMW while the TS5 will be operating, according to Gingerich.

Until now, B-R's conveyors carried between 200-300 lbs, Gingerich says. "They are used for Bosch kinds of things such as a fuel injection system." Now they will be able to handle heavier subassemblies such as an auto transmission.

Gingerich says B-R has also signed an agreement to sell clean room conveyors from Middlesex Industries.

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