15.

PART THICKNESS CHECK FUNCTION B-83264EN/04

15 PART THICKNESS CHECK FUNCTION

Part Thickness checks can be carried out with the servo gun during execution of motion option and
standalone SPOT instructions and the Press_Motion instruction.

The part thickness check will perform a measurement to determine the Estimated Part Thickness and
compare it to the Expected part thickness. When the measured value is outside of the user-specified
tolerance a WARNING or fault can be issued, and an output can be asserted. Thickness checks can be
enabled for all spot and press_motion instructions or only when directly specified.

Target applications for Part Thickness check include detection of:

‚ Missing part
‚ Incorrect part

NOTE
Compensation for wear on the welding tips (Tip wear compensation) and bending
in the gun arms (Gun Sag compensation) are required for accurate part thickness
measurement. See the appropriate sections for details on each of these
compensation functions.

The user must complete the “Thickness Check Calibration” item on the Servogun Autotune Utility for the
part thickness function to be enabled. In addition, the user is required to:

1 Accurately set the tip displacement ratio for the gun (mm/motor revolution).
2 Keep gun tips accurately mastered so tips touch exactly at zero position. Tip wear compensation
programs are typically used to achieve this.
3 Fixed tip of gun must be in gentle contact with the metal surface during thickness check. Accurate
teaching and gun sag compensation are typically required.

NOTE
For the restrictions of above 2 and 3, it is recommended to set Tip wear
compensation and Gun Sag compensation to enable.

DEFINITIONS:
Estimated (Measured) Part Thickness = position of the gun tips minus expected
gun deflection when the thickness check is performed.

Expected Part Thickness = part thickness from the specified pressure schedule (or
THK_VAL condition if used). This is compared to the Measured Part Thickness to
determine if the measured thickness is out of tolerance.

15.1 THICKNESS CHECK CALIBRATION

Gun Deflection Calibration Procedure
1 Press the [MENU] key.
2 Select UTILITIES.
3 Press F1, [TYPE] and select SG Auto Tune. The following screen will be displayed.

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UTILS Gun setup _
EQ:1 Gun:1 3/3
1.Set gun motion sign: COMP
2.Set Gun specs, master gun: COMP
Tip Displacement: 15.00(mm/rev)
Open stroke limit: -150.0(mm)
Close stroke limit: 20.0(mm)
3.Auto Tune: COMP
4.Press Compensation Setup: <*DETAIL*>
5.Thickness Check calibration: INCOMP
[ TYPE ] EQUIP EXEC RESTART

4 Complete Steps 1-3 of the Servogun Autotune utility.

5 Complete Pressure Calibration.
6 Be sure that the tips touch at the zero position exactly (+/- 0.1mm). It is best to complete Tip Wear
Compensation Setup/Initialization since tip wear compensation is needed, and provides for accurate
zero position mastering of the gun tips.
7 Select the appropriate equipment and gun number using the F-keys.
8 Move the cursor to select Step 4, “Thickness Check Calibration”.

NOTE
Before starting the calibration the following items must be confirmed:
‚ The gun tips must be accurately mastered. Use Tip Wear Compensation Setup
program to achieve this. (any error in mastering will lead to a direct error in part
thickness measurement)
‚ For accuracy, Pressure Calibration must be complete.
Ü Thickness check calibration is done when Pressure Calibration is incomplete.
Ü In above, the result of calibration is the theoretical value. So this function
cannot do the best performance.
‚ Robot may have to be placed in AUTO or T2 and all faults cleared.

9 Press Shift + F3 (EXEC) to initiate the calibration. The following prompt box will be displayed when
you do this.

Accurate gun 0 position is

required for thickness check
calibration. Master gun via
tipwear update program or
automaster if current zero
position is not accurate.

[ OK ]

10 Select OK after read this note of caution.

Thickness Check calibration
exercises will begin.

ARE YOU SURE YOU WANT TO DO

THIS?

[ YES ] NO

11 Select YES and press the [ENTER] key. The selected gun will open and close 4 times to perform the
calibration. The robot will not move during this process.

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Once the deflection calibration is complete, part thickness checking can be used. The next step is to setup
and define the part thickness operation desired.

15.2 THICKNESS CHECK GENERAL SETUP

Thickness Check General Setup Procedure
1 Press the [MENU] key.
2 Select SETUP.
3 Press F1, [TYPE] and select Servo Gun. Then select the General Setup page.

SETUP Servogun _
12/13
1 Tip Wear Comp DISABLE
2 Gun Sag Compensation DISABLE
3 Close Direction(Gun): PLUS
4 Close Direction(Robot): UT: 1[+Z ]
5 Max Motor Torque(%): 100.0
6 Max Pressure(kgf): 500.0
Max Gun Torque(%): 450.0
7 Tip stick detect distance(mm): 5
8 Tip Wear Detection: <*DETAIL*>
9 Pressure Cal: COMP <*DETAIL*>
10 Tip Wear Standard:COMP <*DETAIL*>
11 Weight compensation: <*DETAIL*>
12 Thickness Check <*DETAIL*>

[ TYPE ] EQUIP GUN

4 Scroll to the Thickness check item and press the [ENTER] key to see the Thickness Check screen.

SETUP Servogun _
THICKNESS CHECK / EQ:1 Gun:1 1/8
1 Thickness check: DISABLE
2 Thickness check mode: ON RQST
3 Check at minimum pressure: DISABLE
4 Settling time (ms) 0
5 Alarm severity: WARN
6 Under thickness limit(mm): 0.5
7 Over thickness limit(mm): 0.5
8 Thickness out of tolerance: DO[ 0]

[ TYPE ] EQUIP GUN ENABLE DISABLE

5 Using the table below as a guideline, setup each item on the Thickness Check page to specify the part
thickness check operation that you desire.
Item Description / NOTEs Values
Thickness check This setting specifies whether thickness checking ENABLE å checking is done based on
is enabled. In the case of on request mode, this thickness check mode selected below
becomes thickness check permissive. DISABLE å (default) checking is globally
disabled and never done.
Thickness check Specify whether every spot should be checked or ALL å if thickness check is set to ENABLE,
Mode only those spots that are preceded by the checks are done for every spot and press
condition, TCHK_RQD motion that is not preceded by the
TCHK_SKP condition.
ON_RQST (“on request”) å (default) if
thickness check is set to ENABLE, checks
are done only for each spot and press motion
that is preceded by the TCHK_RQD
condition.

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Item Description / NOTEs Values

Check at Specify whether thickness should be checked ENABLE å the weld pressure will be set to a
minimum with no pressure in the gun. An additional step is minimum value (i.e. the gun is relaxed) prior
pressure added to relax the gun in this case. to checking thickness, after the measurement
is done the gun will close to weld pressure
before welding.
DISABLE å (default) check is performed
when gun reaches the specified weld
pressure, this is the faster of the two
measurement styles.
Settling time Delay after achieving pressure, before reading 0-9999 å (default = 0) time in ms that
delay(ms) thickness value. Adding a delay may improve the system will wait after pressure is achieved
repeatability of the measurement but will increase before checking the part thickness.
the time required to complete the measurement
Alarm severity Severity level of message that is posted when out WARN å (default) if thickness check yields
of tolerance condition is detected. an out-of-tolerance value, a WARNING
message is posted but the program and weld
will execute normally
FAULT å if thickness check yields an
out-of-tolerance value, a fault will be issued
that will immediately stop the robot and pause
the program. No welding will be done.
Under thickness Maximum deviation from specified thickness in 0-99.9mm å (default = 0.5mm) A value of
limit (mm) the negative direction. For example, if: 0.0 disables the tolerance check. A value of
Expected thickness = 2.0 0.5mm or higher is recommended for most
under thickness limit = 0.5 users.
Measurements < 1.5mm are out of tolerance
Over thickness Maximum deviation from specified thickness, in 0-99.9mm å (default = 0.5mm) A value of
limit (mm) the positive direction. For example, if: 0.0 disables the tolerance check. A value of
Expected thickness = 2.0 0.5mm or higher is recommended for most
Over thickness limit = 0.5 users.
Measurements > 2.5mm are out of tolerance
Thickness out of The output number (DO index) asserted, when a 0 -> 999 å (default = 0)
tolerance DO thickness alarm occurs.
Output turns off when gun opens after weld. In
case of press_motion, output stays on until the
next motion instruction starts.

NOTE
Even if thickness check is enabled, thickness is not checked when tryout mode is
enabled. And specified thickness becomes 0mm at the time.

Program-Based Thickness Check Conditions

Thickness checking conditions can be set locally in the teach pendant programs to override certain items
from the Thickness Check setup page.

The TCHK_RQD condition must be used to enable a thickness check when the Thickness Check mode is
set to “On Request”.

These special conditions are activated by placing the condition statement directly before the pressuring
instruction (SPOT or Press_motion) when the thickness check is to be done. The condition is only active
for the next pressuring motion.

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Conditions Comment
TCHK_RQD Used to activate a thickness check when the thickness check
mode is set to On Request (ON_RQST)
TCHK_SKP Used to skip a thickness check when the thickness mode is set to
ALL
Override Conditions (parameters)
THK_TOL(under, over, gun index ) Used to override the under and over tolerance settings from the
Thickness Check setup page, values are in mm and must be >0.0
THK_SEV(severity , gun index ) Used to override the Alarm Severity from the Thickness Check
setup page.
Settings for the severity parameter are:
1 = WARNING (message only)
2 = Fault (pause program)

The optional parameter - gun index - is common to all override conditions. It is only significant when the
gun is part of a dual-gun.
1 = gun A
2 = gun B
A value of 3 (both guns) is assumed by default.

The conditions are added to teach pendant programs by inserting a CALL instruction. Each condition is
actually a MACRO program that is found in the macro program list.

Sample program demonstrating use of Thickness Check Conditions

The following setting is used;
Under thickness limit : 0.5mm (Default)
Over thickness limit : 0.5mm (Default)
Alarm severity: WARN (Default)

TP Program instruction Comments:

1: L P[1] 2000mm/sec CNT100 Expected thickness = 1.5mm
SPOT[ SD=1,P=1,t=1.5,S=1,ED=1] If measurement is greater than 2.0mm or less than 1.0mm,
warning is posted.
2: CALL THK_TOL(0.3,0.3) Under/Over limit override condition for next checking is set
3: CALL THK_SEV(2) Alarm Severity override condition for next checking is set
4: L P[1] 2000mm/sec CNT100 Expected thickness = 1.5mm
SPOT[SD=1,P=1,t=1.5,S=1,ED=1] If measurement is greater than 1.8mm or less than 1.2mm, the
program will stop.
5: L P[1] 2000mm/sec CNT100 Expected thickness = 1.5mm
SPOT[SD=1,P=1,t=1.5,S=1,ED=1] If measurement is greater than 2.0mm or less than 1.0mm,
warning is posted.

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