Development of an adaptive part feeder for handling sector-shaped parts

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to discuss a linear vibratory part feeder for handling brake liners, typical sector-shaped components. Part feeders have been used in the industries for a long time to present the parts in a desired orientation. Berretty et al. (1999) discussed a class of mechanical filters that are capable of removing polygonal sections from the track of the feeder which are referred to as traps. The traps eliminate or reorient the parts until they reach the final desired orientation. A part feeder was developed using traps, to reorient the sector-shaped part to desired orientation. The desired orientation was the most probable natural resting orientation. The trap was mounted on a linear vibratory feeder. The adaptive part feeder developed was capable of identifying the size of the incoming part and adjust the trap to accommodate that. This set-up eliminates the use of different traps for different-sized sector-shaped parts and wastage of productive time in changing the traps for different sizes. A regression model was developed to predict the conveying velocity of part on the feeder. Design/methodology/approach – A part feeder was developed using traps, to reorient the sector-shaped part to desired orientation. Acrylic material was found to be suitable for trap compared to aluminium. The adaptive part feeder developed was capable of identifying the size of the incoming part using proximity sensors. Depending on the size of the incoming part, the track width was adjusted dynamically with the help of a stepper motor, rack and pinion arrangement. A regression model was developed to predict the conveying velocity. Findings – Typical brake liners in the size range of 40-60 mm (radius) were considered for developing the adaptive part feeder. Based on performance studies, the acrylic trap was found better than aluminium traps. The appropriate frequency and amplitude of vibration for maximum conveying velocity of the adaptive part feeder were found experimentally. Regression equation was developed to determine the conveying velocity based on input frequency and amplitude. The regression results were found to be in close agreement with the experimental results. Research limitations/implications – The developed part feeder is suitable for handling sector-shaped parts only. Originality/value – This paper demonstrates an inexpensive adaptive part feeding device for handling sector-shaped parts which can be extended for handling other asymmetric parts also.

A Drop Test for Finding the most Probable Resting Orientation of a Part

The material handling is the art of moving, orienting, packing and storing the part. Industrial feeders are used to facilitate the operations by feeding the parts in a specific quantity and at a perfect orientation. It is a tedious task to obtain a particular part orientation, at the assembly station, in a short lead time. To overcome this problem, part feeders are used to segregate and orient parts prior to packing. The natural resting orientation of the part is the orientation in which the part rests on a horizontal hard surface, when dropped from a height. The most probable natural resting orientation of the part has to be identified which helps in the effective design of feeder and orienting devices. In this paper, an attempt was made to study the effect of initial orientation from different heights on natural resting orientation. Drop test was conducted at different heights with each initial orientation. The favorable orientation of the part (or) the most probable natural resting orientation is identified using drop test. In this work, most probable natural resting orientation of a typical asymmetric component, brake pad, is identified.

Design and Development of a Singularizing Unit for Part Feeding System

In the modern industrial world, speed, agility, accuracy and less time are the key factors to attain a position in the market. Various forms of the products manufactured which could either be symmetric or asymmetric. The stacking of the asymmetric parts are either done manually which is a time-consuming job or by installing robots which are costly. To overcome this problem, part feeders are introduced to stack the parts in a specific orientation. In the automotive industry the brake pads are the components manufactured in a large scale. The manufacture of components and stacking them is an intensive task which necessitates agile manufacturing. So a linear part feeding system is designed along with the trap and conveyor system to reorient the asymmetric part to its most favorable orientation for stacking. The major problem arrives in part feeding system is to send parts one by one to trap. The main objective of this work is to design and develop the singularizing unit for sending the parts one by one. The system is designed to separate the brake pads from clusters and singularize them. The singularizing unit is designed by using Markov model and the unit is fabricated. Experiments were conducted for selecting the suitable parameters by making the unit at various levels of inclinations by using base plates of various thicknesses. The parameters which are concentrated while orienting the parts are frequency of vibration, time to travel the part on the singularizing unit and acceleration of the part for effective part motion in a singularizing unit.

Fuel Cell ASAP: Two Iterations of an Automated Stack Assembly Process and Ramifications for Fuel Cell Design-for-Manufacture Considerations

Polymer-electrode membrane fuel cell technology, a low-emission power source receiving much attention for its efficiency, will need to progress from low-volume production to high-volume within the course of the next decade. To successfully achieve this transition, significant research progress has already been made toward developing a fully functional fuel cell automatic stack assembly robotic station. Lessons can be drawn from this research with regards to design-for-manufacture (DFM) and design-for-assembly (DFA) considerations of fuel cells; however, more work still remains to be done. This document outlines both iterations of the robotic fuel cell assembly stations, other work to date, DFM and DFA lessons learned, and the anticipated future progression of automatic fuel cell stack assembly stations. Two individual robotic fuel cell assembly stations were constructed, including custom-built end effectors and part feeders. The second station incorporated numerous improvements, including overlapping work envelopes, elimination of a shuttle cart, software synchronization, fewer axes, and a better end effector. Consequentially, the second workcell achieved a fourfold improvement in cycle time over the previous iteration. Future improvements will focus in part upon improving the reliability of the overall system. As the stack assembly workcell continues to improve, research will focus upon the ramifications and interplay of tolerances, stack failure modes, sealing, reliability, and the potential for component redesign specifically to optimize fuel cell manufacturing throughput.