Medical Parts Vibratory Feed System

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This vibratory feeder was designed to feed a plastic medical component into a machine assembling a medical testing product.

While these parts were easy to pre-orient, the final orientation could not be obtained reliably mechanically so an optical inspection system was used to verify proper orientation and reject product that did not meet the orientation criteria.

Bulk product was supplied from a Performance Feeders Elevating Prefeeder into a vibratory feeder bowl on demand of a bowl level sensor which monitored the level of product in the feeder.

Product orientation continued to the extent that it could be done mechanically. Product fed through the internal tracking to exit that bowl wall feeding into the orientation tooling.

Product at this point ended up end to end at random, flange up with the long dimension in the direction of travel, either end leading. A mechanical preorientation section was added to ensure that the required feed rate could be met.

Vision systems were mounted over each lane of the vibratory bowl tooling right before the discharge to inspect the leading-edge orientation. A proximity sensor detected when the product was in position and told the vision sensor to inspect the product. If an improperly oriented part was detected, the PLC that controlled the vision system activated an air jet which blew the part off the track and back into the bowl feeder for recirculation.

Properly oriented product continued through the inspection areas and into the dual lanes of the Performance Feeders Timing Belt Conveyor which carried the product to the next operation in the assembly process.

System specifications

Feed Rate: 85 parts per minute per lane.
Input voltage: 208V, 60 Hz
Dual Lane Vibratory Bowl:
- 27″ basic diameter.
- Clockwise rotation
- Double welded and ground product contact areas with electropolish finish
Dual Lane PFI Timing Belt Conveyor:
- 106″ long with lanes on 50mm centers.
- All product contact surfaces are Stainless Steel or FDA-compliant materials.
- Quick access top confinements with spring tension latches.
PFI Bulk Supply Hopper:
- 5 cu. ft. floor mounted PFI Vertical Elevator.
- Electro Polished Stainless Steel and FDA compliant materials of construction.
Vision System: Cognex Vision Sensor with proximity sensor
Controls: REOVIB MFS 268 Controller with AB point I/O.
Mounting Surface: 1.25″ thick steel table with heavy-duty frame and leveling screws.
Sensors and Valves Provided:
- Photoelectric sensors on PFI Timing Belt Conveyor monitoring part level in the
  tracks. When a track is full, a valve is activated for that lane and blows parts back
  into the system. If both tracks are full the bowl is turned off to prevent parts from
  recirculating constantly.
- Proximity sensor on hopper monitoring parts level in bowl, turning on hopper when parts are needed.
- Proximity sensor on bowl feeder in camera area, sensing part in place for vision inspection.
- Solenoid valve package with regulator and flow controls for air jets.

Downloads

  Performance Feeders Tri-Fold Brochure
  Performance Feeders Tri-Fold Brochure
  Vibratory Feeder Bi-Fold Brochure