The front flexible parts of endoscopes used to be laboriously hand assembled; Caromatic AG from Flurlingen was asked to mechanise this process. This mechanical engineering company has a reputation for developing, manufacturing and commissioning complex systems. Working alongside Gunsch Motion Control, Caromatic developed a high-precision system capable of manufacturing components for disposable cardiovascular endoscopes in a variety of sizes. The stamping and joining processes in the new plant are carried out in the hundredth of a millimetre range. 

The solution developed by Caromatic pre-assembles a range of endoscope sizes. Three modules, each featuring seven integrated drives, assemble the flexible endoscope components in configurations of different lengths. A robot handles the logistics of the parts between the modules and the parts pallet. Multiple movements in a very small space, and the narrow design of the plant, called for the use of compact motors. The developers settled on a control system and 25 servo drives from Siemens. Thanks to their compact nature, space was saved by mounting the 25 SINAMICS S210 servo drives side-by-side in the control cabinet, with no gaps in between. The engineering of the control system and the drives was a straightforward process achieved in the TIA Portal. Perfect positioning of the 25 axes is ensured by the Positioning Axis technology object incorporated into the SIMATIC controller.

• 1FK2 motor series 
• 25 SINAMICS S210 servo drives 
• SIMATIC controller 
• TIA Portal

Machine building