Streamlining Robotic Automation with Acrylic Tapes & Extruded Foams
When considering automation and robotics, we are aware of their undeniable advantages — faster production, reduced human error, improved product quality. But what rarely comes to mind is the small, yet critical role that adhesive tapes play in the success of automated systems.
Specialized bonding tapes are proving their value in robotics applications, especially when handling high-precision tasks such as bonding surfaces, sealing components, or assembling intricate parts.
In ways that traditional mechanical fasteners cannot, bonding tapes specially formulated for robotics applications help to streamline industrial processes. Often provided in continuous spools, tapes can enable robots to work without interruption, leading to increased productivity, improved quality and lower costs. Tapes such as Norseal® Extruded Foam Profiles and Norbond® Acrylic Tapes are paving the way for optimized manufacturing processes.
Let’s explore how these tapes enable tangible benefits for industrial manufacturing and discuss some of the most common application challenges.
For manufacturers leveraging automated and robotic systems, ensuring stable and reliable performance is key for high-volume manufacturing. Extruded foams and acrylic bonding tapes offer uniform thickness, density and adhesive properties that allows for consistency in industrial automation, especially when robots are programmed for high repeatability and precision.
Acrylic bonding tapes such as Norbond A7600, Z3100, Z3000 (EU only), Z2000 or Z800M have the ability to maintain adhesive strength across wide temperature ranges and ensure stable performance when applied manually or via robotic arms. And, innovative robotic automation systems like RoboTape are specially designed to handle tapes with minimal adjustments and apply these tapes with high precision and speed.
For extruded foams, the main benefit lies in their mechanical properties. Often comprised of materials such as PVC or Thermoplastic Elastomers, these pre-formed products can be precisely cut and applied to exact specifications, helping robotics systems operate smoothly without interruptions that would otherwise be caused by inconsistent material properties.
Both extruded foams and acrylic bonding tapes are highly durable and capable of withstanding the harsh conditions of industrial environments such as exposure to chemicals, extreme temperatures or physical stress. Their ease of integration, precision in application, durability and ability to streamline production processes make them invaluable in the era of Industry 4.0. By leveraging such materials, manufacturers can improve efficiency, reduce costs, and enhance the quality of their products, all while ensuring that automated systems run smoothly and consistently.
The process of spooling splices multiple rolls of tape together and winds them onto a common core which helps increase the product length, reduce changeovers, and allow for the production line to run smoothly for longer. Spooling not only allows for more materials per spool, but also contributes to significant cost savings. Spools of extruded foam have the added benefit of being produced in a continuous process, making the foam splice free.
Both Norseal Extruded Foams and Norbond Acrylic Tapes can be provided in continuous spools and long lengths that lend itself well to automated processes. Due to the continuous format of these products, robotic machines can work faster, have less stoppage time and provide improved quality of output due to fewer spliced sections.
However, obtaining foam and tape materials in spooled format is just one of the first steps for manufacturers looking to automate their process. For spools to work as intended and integrate well with automation systems, the dimensions of the tape, type of liner, and profile of the part must all be considered. These factors are also all dependent on the capabilities of the machines themselves.
At Tape Solutions, we can aid in liner selection to ensure a liner that will be compatible with specific automation equipment, whether that means polyethylene or siliconized polypropylene. For successful integration with most robotic automation tools, standard liner thickness should be about 3–6 mil as anything narrower than 2 mm generally runs a greater risk of breaking in the machines during application. Acrylic tapes are typically spooled with two liners — where a secondary liner helps prevent the tape from binding up during unwind, and to facilitate processing.
During the application, the robotics equipment will typically pull the release liner and allow for the tape to pass through the applicator head. By pulling on the liner rather than the tape itself, the tape remains intact without stretching or deformation during application.
Other key issues to consider include the amount of overlap of the liner, whether the liner is flush with the tape, which is ideal, and the release force of the liner. In terms of overlap, liner cannot be significantly wider than the tape as it can create compatibility issues between the tape and the system. And, in terms of release force, typically liners should have a different release level. The secondary liner should have easier release to avoid liner confusion during unwind.
To ensure the system can apply the tape properly and that each product feeds through the robotic head without issue, we work together with robotic system suppliers to pre-qualify a tape with a system. Most validation can be done by running tapes through the machines they are to be integrated with. Each machine needs to be specially calibrated to ensure enough pressure is applied to the tape for it to stick, that the speed for laying down the tape is optimal and that automation is effectively adjusted to the fixturing needs and profile path of each part. Several materials have already been validated together with RoboTape and are considered RoboTape Compatible.
With automation systems like RoboTape paving the way for automated assembly, the combination of tapes and robotics is key for handling high precision tasks like bonding surfaces, sealing components or assembling intricate parts.
Connect with our team to discover our wide portfolio of solutions for automated applications or discuss customization capabilities for specialized configurations, lengths, core sizes, packaging and more!