Product category:
Automation and assembly systems
News Release from: Parabautek | Subject: Automatic assembly systems
Edited by the Manufacturingtalk Editorial
Team on 12 October 2001
Automatic assembly protects product
image
Innovations in automatic assembly systems can bring to the production line significant automated quality control benefits, particularly where the components have a high aesthetic value.
Innovations in automatic assembly systems can bring to the production line significant automated quality control benefits, particularly where the components for finished products have a high aesthetic value that must be maintained for product image integrity Such systems have been installed and are now being proven by Scottish automatic assembly system manufacturer Parobautek in the factories of mobile handset manufacturers
This article was originally published on Manufacturingtalk on 7 Mar 2003 at 8.00am (UK)
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In many cases, components, which have a high value in aesthetic or cosmetic terms, cannot be presented to an automatic assembly system in a random or bulk fashion because of the likelihood of abrasion during the feeding and orientation process.
Also of great importance is the fact that such components that have been subjected to additional value added processes could not be exposed to potential damage, creating an increase in product rejections.
Such valued added process would include printing, polishing and the introduction of sub-assemblies, for instance.
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Therefore, Parobautek has developed a system of automatic assembly whereby such occurrences are eradicated through controlled automatic handling throughout the assembly process.
This is achieved by using vacuum-formed plastic trays in which to house and transport such valuable components, thereby reducing additional handling and orientation costs from operation to operation while simultaneously providing protection for the components, which are held in individual nests on each tray.
Intelligent tray design can also be developed to use the tray as an infeed to the assembly system workstation and to carry finished assemblies from the line when complete.
This also creates an ideal flow-line where the infeed trays present components to the assembly process and the freshly emptied nest locations on each tray are refilled with the complete assembly for maximum efficiency.
The entire assembly system, including infeeds and output lines, are contained within the protection of a cell constructed around the main assembly machine and, dependent on user specifications, access to the cell can be controlled to authorised personnel only and protection within health and safety guidelines is provided by automatic safety cut- outs which stop the process immediately entry is attempted.
A further advantage to such automatic assembly systems is that such valuable components that are sensitive to handling could also be fed into the system on a strip in the form of a 'gutted' strip from a press tool.
Components carried on this substrate can be offered to the assembly machine on a reel and the final component produced by completing the form and cropping out the individual part through an inverted die.
The strip could also take the form of a carrier tape, also held on a reel and indexed on each cycle so that individual components are peeled from the carrier.
This is particularly useful for presenting delicate components to the assembly system.
For instance, flimsy gaskets and thin self-adhesive parts can be handled with great efficiency through this method, whether for single-sided or double-sided adhesive parts.
Normally flimsy gaskets and thin self-adhesive components can be handled in the fashion.
The system works on both single and double sided adhesive parts.
The example shown is a simple assembly of two delicate parts where care has to be paramount during the handling operations to ensure the aesthetic value is not compromised.
The fine moulded components are loaded to the tray carriers directly from the moulding machine.
The trays are accumulated in stacks and issued to the assembly line in controlled batches.
The trays are separated into single units for processing and indexed through the workstation.
In the work station the gripper picks up the virgin mouldings and rotates to place the finished assembly into the vacant nest.
The programmable axis unit then traverses to the fixture.
The empty gripper collects the finished assemblies from the fixture nest, prior to rotating and loading the virgin mouldings.
The programmable axis returns to the tray position to repeat the cycle.
The system produces four assemblies every seven seconds.
The trays are indexed through the station and are re-stacked prior to the exit on the cell.
This ensures that there is no ingress of dust or other contamination when outside the controlled environment of the cell.
The cell structure also serves the purpose of keeping the mechanisms within the station safely guarded.
The system is controlled by a PLC complete with diagnostic and management information display screens.
A menu can be selected for any station or function on the assembly system and monitoring of individual sections can be carried out over a predetermined period.
The assembly system is supported, after commissioning, via a remote service facility where the system builder/programmer can link directly to the system via the inbuilt modem, if a problem/query arises.
Comprehensive system manuals and operator training is completed after commissioning.
The client's technical support staff is trained in the period immediately after commissioning.
The system is designed for flexibility and can be easily changed to suit the new generation of product, or for a completely new product.
The only cost involved is the fixture change (which retains the same dowel location) and the tray form to suit the new product.
New gripper inserts can be manufactured to handle the new product; or if a vacuum gripper is used it can be repositioned.
The reel-fed components on the assembly stations are programmed/set for the product specification; the X-Y axis are then programmed to cater for the pitch/grid reference of the new trays and the machine set in production.
Parobautek, of Kirkcaldy, Fife, Scotland, is an independent company whose core expertise is in the design and manufacture of bespoke automatic assembly and quality control systems across a diverse range of specialist engineering markets.
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