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Offset Conveyor Station | MISUMI InCAD LIBRARY: IN MOTION | MISUMI USA
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Many modern consumer products go through a series of process and assembly stations, some requiring different orientations before moving to the next step. Today’s Idea Note: IN Motion application will give us one idea of how to accomplish this as we make a stop along the production line.
One of the biggest concerns in assembly factories is the production line footprint, or the area that automation stations occupy. In order to make the most efficient use of a given building’s layout, conveyors and workstations are placed in close proximity to each other. This can be beneficial in saving space, but lead to difficulties when transferring and orienting parts.
In our example, we have two parallel offset conveyors, and need to re-position the part 180 degrees before continuing on to the next workstation. A common way to approach this situation is to use a rotating arm with a pneumatic gripper to swing the part to the next conveyor, however this only achieves a quarter turn, or half the desired 180 degree motion.
Enter the 4-bar linkage, a simple, yet effective tool in a mechanical engineer’s design arsenal. A 4-bar linkage allows for one rotating (or sometimes sliding) drive mechanism, which can achieve a very specific range of motion or positions for a connected link.
There are many variations of the 4-bar linkage, ranging from a steam engine’s piston-driven wheel to a pair of common vise-grip clamps.
In this case, by adding a fixed arm, rod with rod end bearing, and a final rotating arm at the point of the part, we can rotate the part an additional quarter turn, resulting in a final 180 degree re-orientation on the output conveyor.
With the fixed arm attached to a keyed shaft, a spur gear and bearing can be used to provide a drive transfer system from a motor with a matching spur gear. To further save space, the motor can be mounted vertically and kept out of the way using hex posts as stand-offs.
This allows our production line to continue running smoothly, while making effective use of the given space and still re-orienting the part appropriately.
The next time you need a way to transfer and position your part, rest easy knowing that all the products mentioned in this episode, and more, are available through MISUMI.
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Offset Conveyor Station | MISUMI InCAD LIBRARY: IN MOTION | MISUMI USA
Post time: Jul-12-2017