The rear lift gate on the Audi A3 consists of three sheet metal panels, each with a different thickness, joined with round clinch joints. To cut down on cycle times, Audi AG (Ingolstadt, Germany) installed a robot from Kuka Robotics Corp. (Clinton Township, MI) and a robotic clinching unit from TOX-Pressotechnik (Warrenville, IL). Audi also wanted a system that would be flexible and reliable, even when faced with large production runs.
The force to form the individual joints is supplied using a TOX electromechanical servo drive. Seven 6-millimeter round joints attach the stiffener element to the gate's inner panel. Each month, the system installs approximately 100,000 round joints with highly reproducible and documented quality.