Assembly Planbook - March 2009 - (Page 37) Dispense Works Inc. (McHenry, IL) recently built a tabletop system for a pressure sensor manufacturer that both dispenses an adhesive and then carefully places a number of sensing chips into their individual housings with the help of machine vision. In addition to locating both the chip and housing, the system places each chip to either a set pressure or position, based on the data gathered by the vision system. After the chips have been placed in their housings, an operator removes the assemblies for curing. Finally, dispensing equipment manufacturer I&J Fisnar Inc. (Fair Lawn, NJ) offers what it calls its RT404-FLEXII series of tabletop, programmable rotary tables for dispensing circular patterns in hardto-reach places, like those found in speaker assemblies. The company also integrates its valves and controllers with a number of different robot models, including SCARA and Cartesian robots. Automated Screwdriving Another area that lends itself well to stand-alone automation is fastener installation. This is especially true of repetitive applications that require multiple fasteners driven to exact torque specs. Fastening equipment manufacturer Deprag Inc. (Lewisville, TX), for example, has created a number of stand-alone systems, including an automated cell that installs setscrews in filter boxes for cell towers. The cell includes a two-station rotary-indexing table and automatically installs anywhere from 87 to 256 screws, depending on the exact filter box model. In operation, an employee loads one of the fixtures and then pushes a button to rotate the workpiece into the processing area. As it is installing the screws, the system logs the presence of any screws that fail to go in correctly, so that an operator can be immediately check and, if necessary, repair the defective assembly at a nearby workstation. Two other companies with a long track record of building these kinds of systems are fastening equipment manufacturers Visumatic Industrial Products (Lexington, KY) and Design Tool Inc. (DTI—Conover, NC). In addition to multi-spindle rotary indexing workstations, Visumatic also builds workstations that employ VIPer SCARA robots and machine vision. The latter both inspects the work in process and locates the necessary screw holes before the fasteners are inserted. Among the many systems DTI This automated pressing cell includes multiple sets of has built over the years are both color-coded fixturing to accommodate a number of different stand-alone Cartesian systems product styles. Photo courtesy Schmidt Technology and a wide range of fixed, multispindle systems with part verifying capabilities. In the latter case, DTI will often include a two-station indexing table, which allows an operator to unload and load one fixture while the system is driving the fasteners in the other. In the area of electronics manufacturing, Fancort Industries Inc. (West Caldwell, NJ) integrates screwdriving equipment with tabletop Cartesian or SCARA robots from Janome Industrial Equipment (Elk Grove Village, IL). The robots can be integrated with a number of different screwdriver types, depending on the precision required. Pressing and O-Ring Insertion In the area of pressing, Schmidt Technology (Cranberry Twp., PA) recently built a four-station hydropneumatic cell for swaging automotive lock assemblies. The system includes a four-station rotary indexing table with manual loading, part verification, pressing and automated unloading via a small pick-and-place system. The system accommodates multiple product types, and includes a number of color-coded parts fixtures to ensure the right fixture goes with the right model type. Production rates are 12 to 14 parts per minute. Another company specializing in stand-alone press systems Repetitive tasks like the insertion of O-rings make is pressing and monitoring-equip- excellent candidates for stand-alone automated ment manufacturer Promess Inc. assembly. Photo courtesy Amara Ohrmann Ltd. This workcell drives anywhere from 87 to 256 screws, depending on the cell filter box assembly it is helping to manufacture. Photo courtesy Deprag Inc. www.assemblymag.com March 2009 / ASSE M B LY 37 http://www.assemblymag.com
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