A CELL FOR THE MANUFACTURE OF RUBBER DRIVE BELTS UTILIZING A 1134 KG/2500 LB. PAYLOAD CAPACITY GANTRY ROBOT HAS BEEN DEVELOPED AND IMPLEMENTED. THE FUNCTION OF THE GANTRY ROBOT IS TO MOVE LARGE BELT MOLDS BETWEEN OPERATING STATIONS WITHIN THE CELL. THIS OVERHEAD GANTRY ROBOT IS OFTEN REFERRED TO AS AN AUTOMATED BRIDGE CRANE DUE TO THE VISUAL SIMILARITY TO A MANUAL BRIDGE CRANE. THE DESIGN AND OPERATING PARAMETERS FOR THE AUTOMATED CRANE ARE PRESENTED ALONG WITH A DESCRIPTION OF THE CUSTOM END EFFECTOR USED TO HANDLE THE VARIOUS SIZED MOLDS.
