ABB IRB 640 S4C Controller

The ABB IRB 640 robotic palletiser is designed specifically for fast palletising and de-palletising applications.

Unlike most of the robots we sell the IRB 640 is a 4 axis machine. Dedicated for fast palletising, stacking and packing applications. The arm is simplified to make it faster for these jobs. These palletising robots are always sought after on the used market as they are faster and more powerful than a six axis machine for palletising.

The bottom end of the robot is based on the IRB 6400 and so is well proven, strong and reliable. The top arm uses a parallelogram design to hold the end effector horizontal to the ground at all times. This replaces axis 4 and 5 compared to the standard IRB6400 making the top arm simpler and lighter. The reduced inertia allows the arm to move faster. This in turn allows second to be shaved off cycle times.

The IRB640 has a 160kg payload. This means that the robot can easily stack heavy goods, be they bags, canisters, blocks, bottles, crates or sheets. The arm is able to be used in food production environments (when used with food grade lubricants) or in farms and brick factories.

The IRB 640 M2000 also comes with ABB’s PalletWare software installed making setup and programming simpler and also just 4 axes means that there are no singularities to worry about.

The M2000 S4C+controller has a PC style computer that allows greater connectivity and has much greater power than its predecessors. Normally supplied with one I/O card giving 16 inputs and 16 outputs it can be fitted with many more if needed. Analogue I/O is also available. The controller can also work as a PLC by controlling and monitoring I/O signals. Up to 3 background programs (for monitoring signals for example) can be run in parallel with the actual robot program and even when the robot program has stopped. Outputs can be set at a specific time or distance before a programmed position and can be executed concurrent to the robot motion. The controller also has built in dual chain (0V and +24V) safety circuits meaning that the robot can be run without the need for extra emergency stop relays etc. Because of the controllers excellent connectivity it can easily connected to peripheral equipment, line controls and factory intranets.

At Global Robots we clean paint and test our robots and give a three months parts warranty. This is enough to cover the comparatively risky time when a robot is in transit and is being set up. Once a robot is installed and working it should give very many years service with the right maintenance and care. ABB robots are very strong machines designed to work thousands of hours in aggressive environments. The number of Asea-ABB robots still in service from the 1980’s and even late 70’s – some in mission critical applications – shows the reliability and maturity of the technology.