You are on page 1of 2

Non-Vibratory Mechanical Feeders February 2011

Designing an automation process for manufacturing a product requires many engineering hours from product design process design and pac!aging design" #n all of this $big picture% thin!ing there are the little nuances that must be addressed in order for the machinery to &or! efficiently" 'ne challenge is get the component parts presented to the assembly line by human hand maga(ine feeders or mechanical feeders) Depending on the si(e fragility cosmetic considerations tolerances or si(e your component parts &ill need to be handled according to their unique features" *he +ibratory bo&l feeder is the most +ersatile and &idely used parts feeding de+ice but one should ta!e into consideration the mechanical non-+ibratory feeders and their attributes that can contribute to the efficiency of an assembly line" Non-+ibratory feeders in the right applications can pro+ide a lo&er cost solution and are typically quieter in operation" *here are many non-vibratory feeders; the following will be highlighted in this paper: ,enterboard -opper Feeder ,entrifugal -opper Feeder .le+ator -opper Feeder /laded 0heel -opper Feeder *he Centerboard Hopper Feeder is suitable for cylindrical parts discs and headed parts such as do&els &ashers and scre&s" *he centerboard &ill not damage the part &ill ha+e non-magneti(ing feeding and can ha+e single or multiple escapements" *he motion of the blade can be controlled and the time of the return stro!e is considered equal to the time of the up stro!e" 0hen requiring a high rate feed the Centrifugal Hopper Feeder can be utili(ed in feeding and parts handling solutions in a &ide range of industries" *his feeder is not recommended for fragile parts but has lo& maintenance costs and high throughput of parts" 1 feeder that can handle e2tremely large ob3ects or a range of light&eight parts is the Elevator Hopper Feeder" *his feeder &or!s &ell &ith spherical parts and parts &hich ha+e end-to-end symmetry" #t is quiet pre+ents 3amming and reduces parts damage and can sometimes be tooled to handle different parts &ithin the same ele+ating mechanism"

*here are t&o types of the Bladed Wheel Hopper Feeder the oscillating type blade and the rotating blade" *hese feeders are quiet and efficient but are mostly limited to flanged cylindrical parts or 4-shaped parts" *he blade feeders use a bul! storage bin and the rotating bladed &heel agitates the parts so they fall into the trac! in the desired orientation" *here are numerous +ariations of these feeders" 5ome additional designs to consider are6 7eciprocating-For! -opper Feeder .2ternal 8ate -opper Feeder 7otary-Dis! Feeder 5tationary--oo! -opper Feeder and the *umbling-/arrel -opper Feeder" ,ontact 1l -ammel at al"hammel9automationassociation"com or 651-264-9841 for a
complete overview and disc ssion of non vibratory mechanical feeders!

7eferences6 8eoffrey /oothroyd :1ssembly 1utomation and ;roduct Design 5econd .dition< /oothroyd De&hurst #nc" 0a!efield 7# ,7, ;ress *aylor = Francis 8roup >000 /ro!en 5ound ;ar!&ay N0 /oca 7aton F? @@AB 200C Fran! D" 7iley :1ssembly 1utomation 5econd .dition< #ndustrial ;ress #nc" 200 Madison 1+e" Ne& Eor! NE 1001> ;ro3ect Director 8" /oothroyd :-andboo! of Feeding and 'rienting *echniques for 5mall ;arts< ,"7" ;oli ?" ." Murch 1utomation ;ro3ect Department of Mechanical .ngineering 4ni+ersity of Massachusetts 1mherst Massachusetts 0100@ From Fort+ille Feeders &ebsite Fortville Feeders, Inc., BC0 ." /road&ay 5t" Fort+ille #n F>0F0 From -omer ,ity 1utomation #nc"6 5yntron ;arts -andling .quipment &ebsite Homer City Automation, Inc" CB ,ooper 1+enue -omer ,ity ;1 1CBFA-1@>1

You might also like