Preparation for mass production of the coupler system type 'Intermat' (OSShD=East - Railways)GeneralThe focal point from the beginning was - the design must be for effective mass production. Of course - at the beginning the function was the first point. It is important to know, that in this year no robot-technologies were available and the micro electronic was in an early stage, and global cooperation was only at the beginning. This situation influenced the course of development. But even at this time some engineers looked for other production methods, suitable for later automatic production. An important example is the design of a coupler-body, welded together from easy to produce parts. In this way the costly hand formed cast-body could be replaced. The first design was realized in France and later an own design of a welded coupler has been developed in Bautzen in a record time of 6 weeks(!). Up to this time it seemed impossible to replace the cast-body by a welded one. Especially Russian engineers didn't believe the ability to withstand coupling in the cold of Siberia. But tests with the welded design withstand the tests in the best manner. This development paved the way to use weld-robotics for the coupler body and later for the box of the line-connector too. Production of the 'Intermat' - coupler in the former 'Waggonbau Bautzen'The 'Waggonbau Bautzen' was chosen for the development and production of the future automatic centre coupler because of the experience with the automatic 'Scharfenbergkupplung', long in service in trams and city rail cars. During the development the following departments were established:
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