At Audi's Ingolstadt production facility in Germany, highly flexible and automated production lines are used to manufacture various models, including the A3, A4, A5, A6, and Q5. In the body shop and final assembly shop, overhead conveyors ensure the efficient transport of large chassis parts and other materials. To meet this requirement, Audi adopted a drive and automation solution specifically tailored for them by Lenze.
At Audi's Ingolstadt plant, the lower level of the body shop houses the robotic work area, separated by protective light barriers and pedestrian bridges. Robotic arms assemble and weld components transported by overhead conveyors. Over 800 overhead conveyors, carrying various interior and exterior body parts from the stamping workshop, are transported to the body shop for welding; the entire conveyor system exceeds 7 kilometers in length. The conveyors then transport these components to temporary storage points before delivering them to welding stations on two production lines. The transport of components requires highly precise positioning of the overhead conveyors.
Lenze's EMS Monorail Overhead Conveyors Systems are widely used in the material handling processes of the automotive industry. The system's high degree of automation and reliability greatly improve the efficiency of the material handling process.
In EMS Monorail Overhead Conveyors Systems, the Decentralized Motor Control Unit is matched with the GKK series clutched spiral bevel gear reducer motor, providing a variety of flexible solutions for material handling in automotive production.
The control and drive technology of monorail overhead conveyor systems has the following characteristics:
Decentralized Motor Control Unit
DETO series
The controller has a power range of 0.5–10KW and an overload time of 180S.
Power supply and control signal transmission employ contact busbars (OCUs) or non-contact induction systems (ICUs).
Distributed control within the entire motion control system, including speed control, motor monitoring, independent monitoring, data transmission, and diagnostic monitoring.
Supports writing user parameters.
8400ProtecEMS Series
The controller's power range is 0.75–4KW.
Built-in PLC
Communication modes include Half-wave, Power-wave, DECA, and WLAN.
18+4 digital inputs; 2 digital outputs
lRS485/SSI/CAN interface
Integrated 24VDC power supply; integrated braking resistor
GKK series spiral bevel gear reducer motor with clutch
It is matched with a dedicated GKK geared motor with a maximum radial force of 36,000N.
EMS monorail overhead conveyor system for vehicle doors
At Audi's Ingolstadt plant, the transported components are large and heavy, sometimes exceeding 70 kg for a single part. Precise positioning becomes particularly challenging. Adding the weight of the carrier and the EMS monorail overhead conveyor system itself, the total weight can exceed 250 kg, and precise positioning is required for the entire system during start-up, operation, and shutdown.
In previous applications, Audi's suspended conveyors were controlled solely by positioning switches. However, in designing the suspended conveyor system for its new factory, Audi incorporated variable frequency technology (VFDs) and replaced positioning indicators with distance sensors to continuously monitor the distance between two suspended conveyor units, resolving this major technical bottleneck. The new design significantly reduces the required equipment size, while the VFD technology ensures smooth transport of large, heavy-load components. Furthermore, if two speeds are required, only an additional VFD needs to be added, making the increased cost easily offset.
Audi selected Lenze products for its Ingolstadt plant to build the overhead conveyor system for its new facility. For lightweight conveying applications, Lenze chose the GKK04/GKK05 geared motors for its EMS monorail overhead conveyor systems. These motors can provide 70Nm/160Nm of output torque while withstanding radial forces of 5,600N/8,000N. For heavy-duty conveying applications, the GKK05/GKK06/GKK07 geared motors are a more suitable choice, offering 200Nm–900Nm of output torque while allowing radial forces of 10,000N–36,000N.
Lenze8400Protec
The GKK series geared motors used in Lenze's EMS Monorail Overhead Conveyors Systems meet VDI 3643 (C1 standard). The GKK geared motors can switch the torque transmission between the motor and the reducer in real time through a mechanical clutch. Based on this feature, the GKK geared motors provide flexibility for monorail overhead conveyor systems in special situations.
While providing excellent technical data, the compact size of the GKK series geared motors makes them more suitable for integration into monorail overhead conveyor systems. The gear meshing uses a more efficient hyperboloid spiral bevel gear, with a mechanical efficiency of over 96%, which makes the transmission efficiency and speed/torque matching more perfect, reducing energy consumption and thus reducing operating costs.
When maintenance or repair is needed, the GKK geared motor can be easily separated from the equipment components, which will greatly reduce downtime and improve production efficiency for automotive manufacturers.
The clutch switching handle is located at the tail of the geared motor. Thanks to this arrangement, it is also applicable to horizontal conveyor equipment placed on the ground.
Material handling systems in automobile production often extend throughout the entire workshop or even the entire factory. A decentralized motor control unit (Decentralized Motor Control Unit) represents an organic combination of EMS (Monorail Overhead Conveyor Systems) and more advanced automatic control technologies. This system is well-suited for both simple and complex conveying applications.
For the door and side panel conveying stations in the final assembly workshop, a 0.75–1.5KW single-axle driven EMS monorail overhead conveyor system is suitable.
These workstations have the following characteristics:
The conveying load weight is relatively low.
The linear velocity is typically 60–80 m/min.
Limited control settings (speed change, start/stop)
Simple Sensor
Low-end communication
The number of devices is relatively large.
Similarly, in the final assembly workshop, for vehicle assembly stations such as assembly assembly, a high-power, multi-axis EMS monorail overhead conveyor system is more suitable. A typical "grab-lift-tilt (rotate)-translate" conveyor drive distributed motor control unit can control four drive motors in real time to complete the corresponding actions.
These workstations are characterized by:
Heavy load, maximum power requirement 10KW
Precise speed control (low-speed control) and position control (position measurement)
Advanced Sensors
Two-way communication
The number of devices is relatively small.
As an international company that has been committed to driving innovation since 1947, Lenz has always focused on promoting control and drive products that meet the energy efficiency requirements of future drives. Lenz insists on optimizing and improving the efficiency of a complete drive system, and develops the most suitable new solutions based on customers' operational needs and existing applications.
