Injection Molding Tending

When the platens open, the robot reaches into the mold, lifts the part and runner clear, and retracts before the mold closes. That window is set by the molding cycle, so the robot's move plan gets built around the machine's timing.

Payload of 5 to 50 kg suits most parts plus their runners, and reach in the 1400 to 2500 mm range covers a wide range of machine tonnages. A six-axis arm like the M-20iD/25 or Yaskawa GP25 handles typical mold-side entry, and smaller cells sometimes use a top-entry linear robot instead.

End effectors combine vacuum cups, part-specific fingers, and sometimes a degate cutter so the runner drops separately. The just-molded part is hot and soft, so cups and fingers need heat tolerance and geometry that avoids marking the finished surface.

Missed picks usually trace to vacuum leak, cup wear, or a runner that hung up on the sprue. If the robot enters late and the mold begins to close, review the Euromap handshake and safety signals before adjusting motion timing.

For very small IMMs, a purpose-built top-entry linear robot is often lighter and faster than a six-axis. Overmolded or insert-molded parts add insert loading to the sequence, which shifts the cell toward a hybrid tending plus assembly layout.

A common layout puts a Yaskawa GP25 alongside a 200 to 500 tonne press, with an infeed rack for inserts and a downstream conveyor to a trim or packout station. The robot and the press share a Euromap 67 or Euromap 79 interface.

Cycle timing budgets are tight. Every second the arm spends inside the mold envelope is a second the machine cannot close, so entry and exit paths deserve careful tool frame and speed tuning at commissioning.