Variation in Types of Part Feeders for Manufacturing Automation -

Details for Variation in Types of Part Feeders for Manufacturing Automation

ID:	10068
Author:	johnfranklin
Title:	Variation in Types of Part Feeders for Manufacturing Automation
Article:	As the technology has improved in all areas of automation there has been a wider disparity in the types of part feeders for manufacturing automation. It is the role of these devices to move the parts to the manufacturing work cell, usually an assembly cell on the production line. Then the parts must be presented in such a way by part feeders for manufacturing automation so that the part can become an integral contribution to the production process. Most of the time the part is added to other parts to become the finished product at the end of an assembly line. The more recent technological contribution to the creation of part feeders for manufacturing automation into the production scenario is the flexible feeder that runs in concert with robotics and vision systems. The flexible feeding system will offer parts to the production line in a random fashion usually on a conveyor belt. As the parts arrive at the location in production where they will be taken into the assembly of a product, they are taken by a robotics device. A vision system has prompted the robotic so that it can pick up the random parts in an orientation that is acceptable to the next work cell on the production line. Those parts that are not selected by the robot on a given pass are recirculated to be presented again for selection. There are a lot of cases when the parts that are presented by part feeders for manufacturing automation for use on the production line have characteristics that make them delicate and in need of protection from rough encounters with other parts and devices. In these cases parts can be presented by part feeders for manufacturing automation to production from a preloaded tray. Each part will be in the same protected orientation in the tray, so that the pick and place robotic can expect the correct orientation. Since the tray is a consistent size and shape, there will always be the same number of parts in each tray. All the parts will be in consistent locations, making the pick and place operation very easy. Standardized trays are often used by manufacturers that have many different products that are of similar size and shape. This allows for the standardization of the process and the reduction of cost for all the similar production operations. An example of this is the production of some types of electronic devices that have delicate parts. Cylindrical parts that are delicate can also be preloaded into tubes so that they are protected, but easily presented to the manufacturing operation by part feeders for manufacturing automation . The footprint of these types of parts must lend itself to the effective loading and presentation from a tube. Basically the parts must be cylindrical and very mobile in the proper sized tube. Continuous pocketed tapes is another method for feeding delicate parts to the production line. This type of feeder would have a reel of tape with individual pockets containing parts fed to it. The tape would be moved to the production cell by gears that inter-mesh with punched holes on the tape borders. As the pockets arrive, the pockets are opened by a mechanical device, so that the parts are exposed for inclusion in the production process. Example parts that might be fed to production in this manner would include some plastics, and delicate metal parts. There are a lot of cases where the continuous feed mechanism is effective for parts that have been die-cut and are available on continuous rolls that are film and adhesive-backed. As each part arrives at its location of need, the part is cut away from the roll and the backing is stripped, so that the part is available for use, which means it is usually pressed into place. This is a very economical method of adding parts to the process. Positioning of a part arriving to its use point in production is critical for all the feeding methods. The positioning method for any part will be dictated by the method used to get the part to this location. One of the simplest positioning methods is the passive location. This occurs when the parts arrives in a protected location so that it can be picked up by a manipulator device. The part is not pushed by any other part and is help static for presentation. There is usually a device that holds any other parts from encountered the selected part. A very common positioning device is the star wheel. This device has a set of indentations on its circumference each of which accepts one part as the wheel spins. A manipulator will retrieve each part as the wheel rotates. Other common positioning types are indented blocks or plates. These each present the parts in a consistent number and location to the production process. It will be necessary for the management of a manufacturer to match up the parts feeding method of production with the characteristics of the parts to be fed, the production requirements, and production economies. About the author of this article: john mitchell is president of provision, inc, an online publisher of information about the uses of automation in business. the company website, http://www.provinc.net, lets companies to evaluate material handling automation requests for quotes can be submitted to automation specialists
Category:	Business: Ask-an-Expert
Date:	November 12, 2010 04:03:01 AM

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