Automation project

  1. Metal rings are automatically checked for quality.
  2. After quality check they are brought to the injection molding machine.
  3. Once placed in the mold, plastic is shot into the remaining cavity.

How the automation works

  1. The rings are fed into a buffer.

  2. The rings are moved to the conveyor belt.

  3. Above the horizontal conveyor belt, a camera checks whether the pieces are correctly oriented.

  4. The position of the correctly positioned pieces is passed on to a gripping robot.

  5. Rings that are not properly oriented are returned to the buffer belt.

  6. Depending on the type of product, the 6-axis robot will grab 1 or 2 rings from the conveyor belt.

  7. The rings are placed at an intermediate station.

  8. The same robot arm changes gripper so that it can perform other functions. *see production change*.

  9. With the new gripper, rings from the intermediate station are placed in the mold. *see production change*.

  10. Finally, the final products fall out of the mold with sprue.

*During a production change, the following actions are performed automatically:*

  • Empty buffer.

  • Alternate between pick and insert gripper.

  • Change the intermediate station.