Okuma launches parts handling robots to complement its CNC line

Okuma America Corp. last week announced the Okuma Robot Leader, or ORL, series of automation. It includes three proprietary products designed to load and unload workpieces from Okuma machines to increase productivity and operator efficiency, said the company.

“Our team is excited to bring the ORL series to market and showcase its capabilities at IMTS 2024,” stated Wade Anderson, vice president of engineering at Okuma America’s Factory Automation Division. “With its compact footprint and easy integration process, an ORL unit can quickly make an impact for machine shops of any size.”

The Charlotte, N.C.-based company is a division of Okuma Corp., a provider of computer numeric control (CNC) machine tools, controls, and automation systems founded in 1898 in Nagoya, Japan. It also manufactures CNC controls, drives, motors, encoders, and spindles.

In addition, the company launched the Okuma App Store in 2014, and it has a distribution network and a Partners in Technology network for manufacturers in the Americas.

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Okuma to unveil three robots at IMTS 

At the International Manufacturing Technology Show (IMTS) next month in Chicago, the Factory Automation Division will show its new ORL product line:

• Okuma Robot Loader – Drawer (ORL-D): This is a drawer-style unit with a standard template that can store up to 92 workpieces. The company also offers an optional template that holds up to 180 smaller workpieces. 
• Okuma Robot Loader – Rotary (ORL-R): This rotary, disc-style workpiece storage unit has a variety of template options that can hold up to 166 workpieces. 
• Okuma Robot Loader – Machining Center (ORL-MC): This storage unit can hold up to 288 workpieces. The company said its patented MultiGrip workholding allows users to automate multiple OP10, OP20, and OP30 part numbers in high-mix, low-volume manufacturing. 

Okuma said each ORL product has been strategically designed with a compact footprint, requiring only between 8 and 9 sq. ft. (0.7 to 0.8 sq. m) of floor space. In addition, each product uses FANUC industrial robot arms and grippers, which can hold a payload of up to 25 lb. (11.3 kg). 

Parts handling to be demonstrated 

Okuma said it designed these machines to work alongside its existing line of products. For example, it will demonstrate its ORL-R robot with the MULTUS B300II multitasking machine to load and unload parts.

At the same time, an accompanying collaborative robot will transfer the parts from a cart moved by an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) into one of the unit’s pallet drawers. 

Also at IMTS, the company will pair the ORL-MC with a GENOS M560V0-5AX five-axis vertical machining center plus an automatic tool changer (ATC). The unit will load and unload demo parts from the machine onto the ORL pallets.

The ORL-MC will also switch the workholding in the machine based on which cutting operation will be performed on the part, said Okuma.