Aerodynamic High Speed Feeding Systems: Flexible and Reliable

Abstract

Due to recent progress in automation technology, production systems can be realized which are able to assemble more than 600 parts per minute. The greatest problem at these high speeds is not machining itself, but the handling of the often disordered individual parts. When the individual workpieces are delivered in bulk, they have to be separated and oriented. This is done by feeding systems. The conventional feeding systems have weaknesses as far as process speed and reliability are concerned. Therefore a new technology has been developed, with which workpieces can be separated and oriented at the necessary speed with high process reliability. In this method, air flows are used to separate the workpieces and, in several process steps, orient them correctly by making use of their typical features. This technology is called aerodynamic feeding. The article describes the two fundamental procedures, aerodynamic separation and aerodynamic orientation and the structures of these systems.