Product category:
Automation and assembly equipment
News Release from: ATI Industrial Automation | Subject: Compensator device
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 19 February 2008
Correct automated assembly alignment
errors
A compensating device provides rapid insertion correction allowing high-speed automated machines to increase productivity and minimize scrap and downtime.
The Compensator is a remote center of compliance (RCC) device that is designed to correct alignment errors with peg-in-hole automated assembly applications Available from ATI Industrial Automation, the Compensator device features shear pads that are stiff axially and compliant laterally to allow automated assembly machines to 'automatically' correct for lateral and rotational misalignment, reducing contact force and virtually eliminating galling and jamming
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 24 Feb 2004 at 8.00am (UK)
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The RCC device provides rapid insertion correction allowing high-speed automated machines to increase productivity and minimize scrap, downtime and machine damage caused by conventional methods.
The Compensator is ideally suited for automated assembly operations found in a wide variety of industries, said ATI to manufacturingtalk.com.
Industries include automotive, electronics, appliance and systems integration, among others.
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The device has two high-strength anodized aluminum top and bottom plates connected by elastomeric shear pads and hardened alloy steel overload pins.
The overload pins protect the compliant device from crashes while the oil- and coolant-resistant elastomeric shear pads provide the lateral compliance (softness) to reduce contact forces.
* Later stiffness ranges - the Compensator product line is available in sizes with lateral stiffness ranges from 6 to 34 lb/in and axial stiffness ranges from 2329 to 8300 lb/in.
The device uses variable shear pad combinations (from three to 12 pads) based on the Compensator model and the end-user's desired insertion force and compensator strength.
Additional options include the following.
* Pneumatic lock-up that reduces vibration due to inertia, thereby protecting the shear pads, and decreasing cycle time.
* Lock sensing monitors the 'locked' condition of the device.
ATI provides a general selection guide that helps the user determine the Compensator model ideally suited for the intended application.
ATI's application engineers are also available for application advice.
* About ATI - ATI Industrial Automation, based in Apex, North Carolina, USA, is a world-leading engineering-based developer of robotic peripheral equipment, including automatic tool changers, multi-axis force/torque sensing systems, robotic deburring tools, robotic collision sensors and compliance devices.
They provide customers with high-quality robotic peripheral devices, tooling and sensors that enhance their profitability by increasing the effectiveness, flexibility and safety of automation applications.
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