Cam operation and pick and place come together to achieve speed with flexibility

Citation

(2001), "Cam operation and pick and place come together to achieve speed with flexibility", Assembly Automation, Vol. 21 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/aa.2001.03321baf.011

Cam operation and pick and place come together to achieve speed with flexibility

Cam operation and pick and place come together to achieve speed with flexibility

Keyword Automation

Modular Automation of Birmingham has designed and built an assembly machine that combines the use of cam drives with pick and place automation to achieve flexibility with speed (see Plate 7).

Plate 7 This machine, from Modular Automation, uses a combination of cam and pick and place operation to achieve maximum speed with flexibility

The machine, built for a major UK connector manufacturer, is the first built as part of a strategic alliance with Bodine, the machine builder from the USA specialising in cam-driven assembly.

The system assembles mobile telephones and uses a Linkline conveyor to transport the workpieces between the automatic stations.

Station 1 fits the antenna, fed from a bandolier and cropped into the body of the telephone. This is a critical pressing requiring extremely accurate tooling, as any variation in the antenna shape can seriously impair instrument reception.

The main assembly machine is based on a Bodine cam-driven, walking beam machine. Automatic stations fit the control buttons, switches and a vibro motor from bowl or tape and real feeders. Further stations on the cam machine fit the battery and SIN card connections and check the button operations. The "no faults forward" principle ensures that rejected sub-assemblies receive no further work after the fault is detected.

The assembly then returns, on the same conveyor, to a pick and place unit for transfer to the test machine. This performs a radio frequency test that requires the entire test cell to be stationary for the entire 0.25 second duration of the test. Perfect assemblies are ink jet marked and unloaded.

The use of a cam-driven machine combined with a pallet conveyor system is very unusual. In the past, the use of cams in a machine with both synchronous and non-synchronous stations would have been unheard of. However, linking the automatic cells with the Linkline conveyor allows the inclusion of a buffer zone providing the flexibility needed for non-synchronous manufacture and allows Modular Automation to achieve the 2.5 second cycle time required with only one set of loading stations. It also provides the flexibility to retrofit automatic stations, or redesign existing ones, to accommodate model variants or future design changes.

According to William Bourn, Modular Automation's Sales Manager, the opportunity to use cam-driven equipment in future represents a major development for the company. "The alliance with Bodine provides us with a fast track to the best cam operation system available", he said.

Modular Automation has vast experience in developing innovative assembly systems using a modular approach and trusted technology. By approaching its business in this practical way it ensures that its systems are realistically priced, effective and utterly reliable.

All enquiries to: William Bourn, Modular Automation, Talbot Way, Small Heath Business Park, Birmingham B10 0HS, UK. Tel: +44 (0)121 766 7979; Fax: +44 (0)121 766 6385; e-mail: bourn@modular.co.uk