Front right view of the Model MD MateTM Machine Tender positioned at a CNC lathe. Note: The bi-fold safety guard folds back against the MD MiniDrawerTM cabinet, providing clear access to the CNC for tooling setup or changeover.

MD Mate™ Robotic Machine Tender

The MD Mate™ Robotic Machine Tender was designed with the premise that floor space is at a premium and flexibility is critical to any machine tending application, Adaptec Solutions developed the MD Mate™ to be a simple, drop-in machine tending solution for small lathes, mills and grinders.

How Does It Work?

An operator simply opens each of the four drawers from outside the robot cell, places raw parts into each drawer fixture and then closes each drawer. Next, the operator cycle starts both the machine tool and the robot. The included 6-axis 7kg payload FANUC robot moves to the top drawer, depresses the drawer handle, pulls the drawer into the robot cell and locks it into position for part unloading.

The robot now unhooks from the drawer handle, picks the first part from the drawer and then loads the machine tool. On the next cycle, a finished part is unloaded from the machine tool and a new raw part is loaded. The robot moves back to the drawer to place the finished part back into the drawer. As drawers are completed, the robot moves down to the next available drawer.

Front view of the Model MD Mate Machine Tender positioned at a CNC lathe. Note: With the robot in its home/maintenance position and the bi-fold safety guard folded back against the MD MiniDrawerTM cabinet, clear access is provided to the CNC for tooling setup or changeover.

Front left side view of the Model MD MateTM Machine Tender positioned at a CNC lathe. Note: The MD MateTM is shown with all drawers closed and the bi-fold safety guard shown in the open position, illustrating how little floor space the MD MateTM uses.

Front right side view of the Model MD MateTM Machine Tender positioned at a CNC lathe. Note: The MD MateTM Machine Tender is easily moved from machine to machine with a common pallet jack. Simply park the robot in its home/maintenance position, remove the four (4) anchor bolts, place the pallet jack under the MD MiniDrawerTM cabinet, lift and move.

Front right side view of the Model MD MateTM Machine Tender positioned at a CNC lathe. Note: Even with the bi-fold safety guard in the closed position, the CNC control panel is still accessible.

Front left side view of the Model MD MateTM Machine Tender positioned at a CNC lathe. Note: Any drawer on the MD MiniDrawerTM not being serviced by the robot, may be opened on the operator side for part replenishment, keeping the cell producing parts.

Benefits

Easy to use

Operator can access drawers not in use by robot and refill with raw parts

Uses customer-made fixture plates which reduces cost

Provides good line of sight to machining process

Quick installation and commissioning of system

Open access to service work holding and turret tool

Features

Compact size

24″W x 16″D x 4″H fixture area

Three-position drawer locking robot

Drawer position sensors are collected and tied into an ethernet IP distribution lock

Options

Heavy-duty steel frame

Integrated drip tray within each drawer

Drawer position sensors pre-wired to distribution block

Easy relocation via pallet jack

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