Press transfer robots became specialised in the area of inter press transfer between stage presses on a sequential press line. The principle is simple but the size of the presses often required a 180° Joint 1 rotation to cover the distance involved.

The press transfer robot was originally tuned for high speed joint one rotation to speed up the transfer process. The only significant modification to the Unimate press transfer machine was an oil cooler.

Comau designed an interesting press transfer machine comprising a 6 axis robot on a rotating cantilever base which increased the envelope and consequently the press centres. This was a bang/bang positioner rather than a fully integrated 7th axis as there would be no necessity for intermediate stopping positions.

Here is a link to a pic of the Comau

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