Güdel Announces Transition of Trackmotion Manufacturing to USA

Güdel, Inc. (Ann Arbor, MI), the US subsidiary of Swiss-based Güdel Group, announced it has transitioned all manufacturing of its third-generation robot tracks for domestic markets to its headquarters. While some initial Trackmotion Floor (TMF) modules were fabricated and machined in Switzerland, the entire product line is now built in the US.

“We believe Swiss Quality, Made Locally reflects our business strategy very accurately,” said Joe Campbell, vice president of sales and marketing. “We leverage drive components from our Swiss factory with US engineering, manufacturing and service. Our North American customers demand the best of both worlds, and we are happy to comply.”

The new generation of TrackMotion robot tracks deliver improvements throughout the entire product line, all focused on improving performance, reliability and value. “We have made considerable improvements to the new design”, said Campbell, who explained some of the new enhancements.

“For starters, the frame is now a closed, gusseted weldment that delivers increased stiffness with a smaller footprint. The improved stiffness means less deflection over the travel length (repeatability of +/- 0.02 mm), the ability to operate at higher speeds and acceleration (up to 240 m/min, 12 m/s2), all while requiring less floor space.” An added benefit, he noted is the enclosed frame design which prevents the buildup of debris in the center of the track and provides a more stable platform for maintenance personnel.

The new TMF family can be configured for any application. Four standard frame sizes can support over 98 percent of the robot models on the market, at full payload and under dynamic loads. Standard lengths are available from 3 m to 16 m in 1 m increments, and custom tracks can be provided in virtually any length for even the largest scale applications.

Güdel has also developed a universal robot carriage design, with flexible adaptor plates that interface to any robot model. Units can be configured with multiple independent live carriages, or passive slave carriages. Tracks can be configured with servo worm drives or planetary gearboxes, and support all major motor manufacturers.

The core of the TMF product line is Güdel’s driveline components, including gear boxes, helical racks, rails and pinions. Güdel’s 50 years of experience manufacturing linear motion deliver the highest precision and highest reliability over the life of the products.

Güdel’s unique cam follower roller block design allows in-place adjustment and outright replacement without the total disassembly required by traditional linear bearing approaches. To date, the TMF has been shipping around the world into diverse industries from aerospace to automotive, packaging to logistics and metal fab to furniture.

www.gudel.com