2020/02/04
ID: 2643

Move heavy loads easily at the touch of a finger

Intuitive balancer with more scope and less installation effort

The servopneumatic balancer kit YHBP from Festo offers ever greater flexibility thanks to its ability to support greater loads and stroke lengths. In addition, it’s becoming ever easier to install, since its control components are now available as a ready-to-install solution pre-assembled in the control cabinet or on a mounting plate.

With the balancer, employees in assembly and logistics can easily lift and move heavy loads at the touch of a finger. Its features include automatic weight detection and safety up to Performance Level d, making it suitable for the automotive and packaging industries or for handling white goods. The further development of the balancer kit YHBP from Festo makes it possible to handle both lighter (25 kg) and heavier loads (up to 999 kg). Extended stroke lengths up to 1,990 mm ensure longer lifting columns.

 

Ready-to-install solution from a single source

Using the configurator, the control components of the balancer kit can be ordered pre-assembled and function-tested from a single source, completely ready for installation in the control cabinet or on a mounting plate. This significantly reduces the installation and wiring effort. A Modbus interface is also available for communication with the higher-level control system. Actual values and service messages can thus be visualized on a higher-level control system, for example.

 

When configuring the system, users simply choose the required safety Performance Level (b or d) and define the stroke and diameter of the working cylinder. The configurator makes this really easy https://www.festo.com/YHBP-configuration.

 

The system automatically detects the weight of the load and adjusts the balancing force itself, even when suspended loads are added or removed. This makes production processes with a large number of variants much more flexible. And operation is child's play thanks to intuitive control using a pneumatically activated, ergonomic handle.

 

The pre-assembled servo-pneumatic drive solution consists of a pneumatic ISO cylinder, a displacement encoder, a balancer valve unit, a pneumatically operated handle and a balancer controller. The controller comes with pre-installed balancer software with browser-based web visualisation for commissioning and diagnostics. A sensor interface and a safety relay acting as a speed monitor are optionally included in the package for safety applications.

 

Playing it safe

Ergonomics must always go hand in hand with machine safety. The safety variant of the drive solution achieves Performance Level d thanks to dual-channel speed monitoring and power shutdown. This ensures it is always brought to a safe state in the event of a faulty component. Dangerous movements are also prevented if there is a voltage failure or sudden drop in pressure.

 

Kinematics and applications

The drive system has proven to be versatile and flexible, making it suitable for installation and retrofitting in all conventional balancer kinematics like lifting columns or parallel kinematics, regardless of whether they are standing or hanging.

 

In the automotive industry, balancer systems can be used to move and precisely adjust heavy components, for example when fitting shock absorbers, motors, dashboards, tyres, windscreens, doors and seats. In the food and electronics industries, they handle the loading and onward transportation of heavy containers, packages and goods. In the packaging industry, the focus is on conveying rolls of paper and film, and automated loading and repositioning of pallets. Similar applications can also be found in general machine and system building, in toolmaking, and in domestic appliances, heating and air conditioning engineering.

Festo est à la fois un acteur mondial et une entreprise familiale indépendante basée à Esslingen am Neckar en Allemagne. Depuis ses débuts, Festo établit des normes en matière de technologie d'automatisation industrielle et de formation technique, contribuant ainsi au développement durable de l'environnement, de l'économie et de la société. La société fournit une technologie d'automatisation pneumatique et électrique à 300 000 clients d'automatisation d'usine et de processus dans plus de 35 industries. Le secteur LifeTech, avec la technologie médicale et l'automatisation des laboratoires, devient de plus en plus important. Les produits et services sont disponibles dans 176 pays du monde. Dans le monde entier, environ 20 600 employés dans environ 60 pays avec plus de 250 succursales ont généré un chiffre d'affaires d'environ 3,65 milliards d'euros en 2023. Sur ce total, environ 7 % sont investis chaque année dans la recherche et le développement. Dans l'entreprise apprenante, les mesures de formation et de développement représentent 1,5 % du chiffre d'affaires. Festo Didactic SE est l'un des principaux fournisseurs d'enseignement et de formation techniques et propose à ses clients du monde entier des solutions complètes d'apprentissage numérique et physique dans l'environnement industriel.

© Festo SE & Co. KG
Balancer
L'ergonomie améliore l'efficacité : un équilibreur servo-pneumatique combiné à la solution d'entraînement Festo YHBP permet aux employés de l'assemblage et de la logistique de soulever et de déplacer des charges sans effort, avec...
© Festo SE & Co. KG
Control for balancer in control cabinet
Reduced installation effort: The control components of the balancer are now available as a ready-to-install solution pre-assembled in the control cabinet.
© Festo SE & Co. KG
Control for balancer on mounting plate
Reduced installation effort: The control components of the balancer are now available as a ready-to-install solution pre-assembled on a mounting plate. 
© Festo SE & Co. KG
Fixation de porte Kia
Kia Motors Slovaquie compte sur le Balancer pour le montage de portes dans sa production de véhicules. (Photo : Kia Motors Slovaquie)
© Festo SE & Co. KG
Montage de roue Kia
Les avantages ergonomiques du Balancer prennent également tout leur sens lors du montage des roues dans l’usine de production automobile de Kia Motors en Slovaquie. (Photo : Kia Motors Slovaquie)