Many end users in the food processing and packaging industry have turned to Machinery Control Systems when packaging machine controls reach the end of their natural life
There are many packaging machines built in the late eighties or early nineties where the electronics are coming to the end of their natural life. This means frequent failures and unscheduled stoppages. The advance of electronics over this period has meant that many of the components are no longer manufactured so the original controllers can no longer be made and with few spares around the machines are becoming inoperable.

The mechanics of these machines are still in good working order and still have several years of working life left.

Many end users in the food processing and packaging industry have turned to Machinery Control Systems for a solution.

MCS have specialised in upgrading these machines by replacing the electronics and rewriting the software.

The cost of this work is recouped within a few months with the bonus of many years of efficient and reliable production ahead of them.

Vibratory part feeder feeds rivets and screws ‘heads up’ at a very high speed without using compressed air for orientation and removal of components nor does it require a sensor.
Elscint Automation, a leading vibratory parts feeder manufacturer has developed a Vibratory Part Feeder to feed rivets and screws at a very high speed. Such components are required to be fed ‘head up’. The orientation is usually done on a slot.

Though this method is good for orientation, it reduces the speed of operation and requires usage of compressed air for increasing the feed rate and removal of unoriented rivets / screws and also requires a sensor for stopping the vibratory parts feeder when the chute is full.

The Vibratory Parts Feeder developed by Elscint Automation not only achieves a very high speed or feed rate but also does away with the usage of compressed air for orientation and removal of component as also the sensor.

Either of the five Models of Elscint vibratory parts feeders can be used for this purpose depending upon the size and loading capacity required.

This unit has a lot of applications in varied industries.

However, this is possible when a tubular output is required.

A special purpose pneumatic press for a safety switch manufacturing company secures several screw contact assemblies into a plastic switch body.
Bespoke Machines has manufactured a special purpose pneumatic press for a well known safety switch manufacturing company. A press has been purpose built to secure several screw contact assemblies into a plastic switch body. The design of the switch dictated that some of the contacts should be secured while the plunger assembly was depressed.

The remainder must be secured while plunger is extended.

Previously to the introduction of this machine an operator would secure some of the contacts in one press and the remainder in another.

The press supplied by Bespoke Machines cycles twice.

Between cycles the punches and contacts are automatically re-aligned and the plunger is actuated.

This press gives several benefits namely: a.

Elimination of the risk of repetitive strain injury ( RSI ).

b.

Consistency of product quality.

c.

Reduction of the labour content in the assembly process.

d.

Reduction of floor space required to perform the operation.

e.

Deskilling of the assembly process thus reducing the training period for new operators.

Bespoke Machines is a special purpose machine manufacturer specialising in assembly machines.

Many production processes do not lend themselves to the use of standard production machines.

Unique machine designs have to be developed for a process to benefit from the advantages of automation.

Motor trolley with pneumatic drive wheel release is a compromise between automatic operation, when the drive wheel is in driving position, and manual operation, when the drive wheel is released.
Industry often focuses on complete automation solutions in order to drive down costs but ’semi’ automatic applications can also generate increased productivity. As a result the number of semi-automatic applications is increasing. In a semi-automation system some operations are made automatically, while others are manually operated.

This kind of operation is particularly common in lifting and handling systems where heavy components need to be transported or maneuvered over short distances or within a restricted area.

An example would be the automatic transfer of a dash board to the operator who then has to fit and install the dash board manually.

It is in this type of application that the motor trolley with pneumatic drive wheel release is the ideal compromise between automatic operation, when the drive wheel is in the driving position, and manual operation, when the drive wheel is released.

In automatic mode the operation of the pneumatic cylinder which actuates the drive wheel is normally initiated from a control system or simply by a limit switch.

In systems where there is no need to release the drive wheel the Danaher Motion TMT trolley still can be provided with the same spring loaded function as used in the prior motor trolley model.

The wheel drive of the new TMT motor trolley, which is an addition to the handling and automation product range from Danaher Motion, has an increased diameter to give longer life.

It also has guiding wheels that enable the trolley to run in curves as well as through switches and turn tables.

A new adjustable counter weight allows the use of any motor/gear combination while retaining the balance of the trolley.

Standard versions of the motor trolley are supplied with a SEW - motor that can be supplied in a one or two speed options, with a brake (a manual release is available as an option) and a power pick up where required.

The trolley can be ordered without a motor, with a standard gear or without the gear.

Linear Motion Systems, as part of Danaher Motion, provides standard and custom linear bearings, linear guides, ball and lead screws, gearheads, linear actuators, slides and systems, precision balls, moulded products, resolvers and feedback devices, brakes and clutches, AC and DC drives and stepper and servo motors.

Its products are applied worldwide throughout a variety of motion applications in the medical, industrial, aerospace, and mobile off-highway markets.

Its highly recognized brand names include: ThomsonT, Thomson BSAT, MicronT, and Deltran PTT.

A high-speed component placement machine is placing chips from 1206 down to 0402 used in a company’s central heating electronic programmer and timer products.
Kaisertech has supplied an Assembleon Topaz XII high-speed component placement machine to Danfoss Randall, the domestic heating controls specialist. The new machine, part of Assembleon’s Gem range, is being added to an earlier version of Topaz which has been in use at Danfoss for several years, the company also has other similar units on a separate line, making a total of four Topaz placers at the company’s Bedford plant. Kevin Hannah, engineering manager at Danfoss says that the new Topaz unit was chosen because of the existing machines’ good track record, commenting ‘exceptional reliability and service back-up coupled with the fact that there have been no major breakdowns gave us every confidence to purchase more Assembleon machines’.

At Danfoss the Topaz units are placing chips from 1206 down to 0402 used in the company’s central heating electronic programmer and timer products.

In addition the Topaz can place a wide range of SMDs including PLCC, QFP, BGA and GSP at placement rates of up to 19,500 components per hour.

Board sizes up to 460mm x 440mm and components up to 6.5mm high can be handled.

Pneumatically operated indexing table is actuated by pawl and ratchet mechanism and plunger is used to lock the table thus ensuring the indexing accuracy.
Elscint the leading vibratory bowl feeder manufacturer from India offers Elscint Indexing Table, which is activated by pneumatically, operated air cylinder to move the indexing table.

This table is actuated by pawl and ratchet mechanism and for indexing accuracy, plunger is used to lock the table at desired position thus ensuring the indexing accuracy for accurate indexing jobs.

This table also uses large size thrust bearing thus offering adequate smooth indexing operations.

Small pressure springs are a tiny but vital part in numerous modern products and disentangling and feeding can be a problem, solved now by a disentangler that feeds up to 200 springs/min.
Small pressure springs are a tiny but vital part in numerous modern products. In fact, one of the most time consuming techniques is the handling of small components such as springs. Not only are they usually supplied in a tangled mass, from which they need to be freed, but they are also difficult to pick up and fix into position.

It is very important that the feeding and location of the springs is extremely accurate during assembly.

Elscint manufactures the Elscint Spring Disentangler for disentangling of various types of springs.

This finds usage in all industries where springs are used.

The Elscint Spring Disentangler feeds out the springs through tubes to the point of use.

Various types of springs can be used in the same Unit with slight change over tooling.

Capacity and separation rate depends on the shape and size of the springs.

An output of up to 200 springs per minute can be achieved through each feeder tube! Elscint also offers other accessories like Hand Pick Off, Escapement etc.

to go with this equipment.

A readily accessible details complete line of NI products, including the LabVIEW 7 Express graphical development environment and a full line of data acquisition (DAQ) products.
The Measurement and Automation Catalogue 2004 from National Instruments, a leading resource for engineers and scientists seeking innovative virtual instrumentation solutions from NI, is now available both in print and on the Web. The NI catalogue is a readily accessible resource that details the complete line of NI products, including the NI LabVIEW 7 Express graphical development environment and a full line of data acquisition (DAQ) products, with comprehensive tutorials, detailed specifications and selection guides. The catalogue highlights NI software tools that work together to boost performance, simplify development and increase efficiency.

The catalogue also features new measurement hardware, such as the 100 MS/s mixed-signal suite of PXI instruments for rapid prototyping and test and NI Compact Vision Systems, which extend the power of LabVIEW Real-Time to a new rugged machine vision package that withstands harsh environments.

Engineers and scientists can find The Measurement and Automation Catalogue 2004 on the Web at ni.com/products, which includes detailed product specifications and services, customised configurations, local pricing information and online ordering.

With the online catalogue, users can conveniently search for products by keyword, model number and part number.

About National Instruments - National Instruments (ni.com) is a technology pioneer and leader in virtual instrumentation - a revolutionary concept that has changed the way engineers and scientists approach measurement and automation.

Leveraging the PC and its related technologies, virtual instrumentation increases productivity and lowers costs for customers worldwide through easy-to-integrate software, such as the NI LabVIEW graphical development environment, and modular hardware, such as PXI modules for data acquisition , instrument control and machine vision.

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, NI has more than 3,000 employees and direct operations in 40 countries.

In 2002, the company sold products to more than 25,000 different companies in more than 80 countries around the world.

Five models of vibratory bowl feeders offer many distinct tooling features built into basic bowl designs, with tracks varying in width and shape to accommodate different types of components.
Elscint manufactures five models of Vibratory Bowl Feeders, i.e 100, 160, 250, 400 and 630. The feeders offer many distinct tooling features built into the basic bowl designs, with tracks varying in width and shape to accommodate different types of components. Bowls: The Bowls have many distinct tooling features built into the basic bowl designs, with tracks varying in width and shape to accommodate different types of components.

These inherent features of the bowl are of great assistance, when bowl tooling is being developed to fulfill a specific tooling application.

The Bowls are made in either cast aluminium or stainless steel.

In stainless steel various types of bowls are available like conical, step design, cylindrical and outside taper bowl.

Drive - all drive units are correctly engineered to give stable performance at high speed with minimum maintenance.

Totally encapsulated type coils with adequate power for particular models, are used.

A removable guard/cover is provided for safety.

Control Unit - every drive unit is supplied with separate control box, with which, it is possible to control the speed of the feeder infinitely.

Standard units are suitable for electrical supply of 230V, 50 Hz.

Soft start controllers are available.

Accessories - various types of stands, X-Y Tables, Z adjustments, hoppers, level controllers, silos and sensors are available for all the models.

Application - Elscint Vibratory Bowls are suitable for feeding components for subsequent operations on special machines in cosmetic, electrical, mechanical, pharmaceutical, optical, bearing and many other industries.

The components can be plastic caps, spouts, capsules and electrical connectors, bearings as well as heavy parts such as anchor bolts, bearing races and metal sockets.

Even oily parts! Durability and performance are guaranteed due to our extensive in-house testing.

Elscint offers total design, tooling, and manufacturing services for custom vibratory feeders.

When an automation company planned its website, it said: ‘The site should be the first port of call for engineers, designers, safety managers…’. Today, the site gets 5000 users every month.
When LC Automation began planning their Internet site a couple of years ago, the initial design brief stated that; ‘The site should be the first port of call for engineers, designers, safety managers and anyone else who is looking for reliable and up to date information about Automation, Motion Control or Machinery Safety’. It was easy to say, but a lot harder to put into practise! Well the proof as they say, is in the pudding, and the websitehas proven to be so popular that they now have around 5000 users every month! Not only are visitors looking at the latest news articles, application and product information, but they are also downloading manufacturer PDF files in their thousands, last month alone visitors download over 4000 copies of at least one section from the Mitsubishi Concise brochure. And it’s not all first-time users either; between 15-20% are actually repeat visitors! Malcolm Chadwick, LC Automation’s Sales Director explains the success; ‘We never wanted lcautomation.com to be a pushy sales site, with lots of pop-ups advertising cut price this and that.

LC Automation is a technical distributor and we focus as much on our service and backup as the products we sell.

We wanted the website to reflect that, so the emphasis is on giving the best information and latest news in an interesting and informative way - that’s why the site has become so popular.’ So many visitors bookmark the site and come back time after time, that it’s not surprising that the volume of traffic has increased by 500% in the past 8 months.

‘We are focusing our efforts on continually updating the website.

‘, continues Chadwick, ‘.

to make sure that all the content is correct and as up to date as possible.

No one wants to return to a site with poor information, broken links and dull, out of date content.

The website is really important to LC Automation, if we weren’t going to do it right in the first place - we wouldn’t do it at all!’ The site also allows visitors to register online, giving them access to the e-quote facility as well as receiving a regular, monthly news update from LC Automation.

Once every month, registered users receive an e-mail with brief articles about recent news stories and the latest new product developments.