A glazing cell, using a vision system, has reduced the cycle time to around 33 seconds - down from 3 minutes required with a fixed-jig, manual system used previously.
After the success of the first glazing cell supplied to Nissan 2 years ago, the introduction of an additional cell for the Almera and Primera lines would appear to pose few engineering problems. The original cell cut cycle times for the operation 3-fold. However, this time the window design had changed, so Modular Automation chose to use a vision system to centralise the windows rather than the mechanical method used previously.

The system applies sealant to the side window glass, left or right, for both Nissan models.

The first operation requires the glass to be centralised prior to the application of sealant.

The original system could use a mechanical method of centralising as the window edges were rigid.

However, the new system has to work with windows fitted with rubber weather seals that make mechanical centralisation impossible.

To solve the problem Modular Automation now uses a vision system to locate the glass centre.

A Fanuc robot then picks up the glass at its central position using vacuum suction and rotates it under a static head that disperses the sealant around the edge of the glass.

After completion the system unloads the glass, with the sealant applied, to an operator pick up station.

According to Bob Scurr, the Nissan engineer responsible for the project, the system is incredibly efficient compared with the fixed-jig, manual system used previously.

‘It reduces the cycle time to around 33 seconds, down from 3 minutes,’ he explained.

‘ To save nearly two and a half minutes on one job is a big deal for us.’ Modular Automation has vast experience at 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.

Modular Automation from Birmingham, has designed and built a new semi-automatic assembly system for Delphi Diesel of Sudbury that complies with the company’s Lean Manufacture principles.
Modular Automation from Birmingham, has designed and built a new semi-automatic assembly system for Delphi Diesel of Sudbury that complies with the company’s Lean Manufacture principles. The system is the fourth line supplied by Modular Automation for the same application. The three previous lines were supplied while the company was Lucas Diesel Systems.

The system assembles diesel injector units to the correct tolerance by using precision shims to compensate for machining limitations and the inevitable variations in the tension of the springs used in the injector body.

By choosing a shim of exactly the correct thickness, Delphi can vary the opening pressure of the valve to achieve a complete injector assembly that operates correctly first time.

The injectors are subsequently wet tested to verify that accuracy.

The additional line is a direct response to an increasing demand for Delphi’s products.

At each stage Modular Automation has respected Delphi’s principle of balancing the relative benefits of automation against manual assembly.

There is no doubt that it is technically possible for all operations to be performed automatically however, Delphi’s lean manufacturing principles require that automation is only introduced where there is a clear quality and economic case to do so.

The new system operates on a Negari principle which allows production volumes to be varied depending on the number of operators allocated to the line.

A single operator can operate all machines in sequence, however, up to four operators can work on the same line to create a proportionate increase in production rates.

This system is intended to provide the production flexibility needed to support the three machines already in service and react quickly to fluctuations in demand for the product.

When the product eventually is withdrawn from service the Negari line will be able to provide service components precisely to reflect demand with the minimum of downtime.

Modular Automation has vast experience at 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.

This latest wheel assembly installation automatically fits and tests remote tyre-pressure monitoring valves, an innovative new safety feature available on certain luxury vehicles.
Line automatically fits and tests tyre valves Vanriet’s latest wheel assembly installation for Pirelli automatically fits and tests remote tyre-pressure monitoring valves, an innovative new safety feature available on certain luxury vehicles. The fitting and testing procedure must be carried out free from any outside HF radio interference and the Vanriet conveyor system is believed to be the first completely sealed conveyor process installed in the UK. Designed to handle tyre assemblies for vehicles as diverse as the new Range Rover and BMW’s mini series, the new installation will enable Pirelli to provide the latest tyre technology to leading European carmakers.

Part of Pirelli’s Burton-on-Trent plant has been developed to provide a fast and responsive tyre assembly and delivery service to car assembly plants, using both its own and other brands of tyres if required.

Tyre and wheel assemblies can be called off for dispatch in a matter of hours following emailed instructions from customers received via EDI.

They are shipped in sequence so that they are offloaded in exactly the order required for each individual vehicle, ensuring that left and right, front and rear and spare tyres are all in order.

Pirelli has increase its business by more than 100% in the past year, supplying wheel assemblies to luxury car brands such as Range Rover, BMW, Jaguar, Rolls Royce and Bentley.

At the start of the process tyres and rims are hand-fed onto two separate conveyors which convey the two components to a Cirrus automated assembly machine.

As rims are high value items and easily marked, Vanriet fitted fibre belting, with rubber coated rollers and nylon glide rails on bend sections, to avoid potential damage from metal-to-metal contact.

Tyres are carried on rollers and then travel on an inclined belt to the assembly machine entry point.

Once the wheels are automatically assembled, inflated and checked, the Vanriet system conveys them to the sensor fitting station.

The battery-powered tyre monitor fits inside the tyre and trim where it senses tyre pressure and temperature.

Data is transmitted together with its individual wheel coding to the vehicle’s on-board computer, to provide prior warning of any loss of pressure.

The sensor’s unique reference details provide additional security information, as the assemblies can be directly related to an individual vehicle and can be identified if stolen.

Once the tyre assembly is inflated, the system activates the sensor for just two minutes.

This allows time for the system to check the data and pass information to a labelling machine, which prints and places a bar code label on each wheel.

When the tyre is fitted to its host vehicle it is reactivated to monitor and transmit data.

As the assembly process is slower than quality checking and balancing, tyres are held in a spiral accumulation tower until they can be fed to the balancing station.

Pirelli’s clients may call off products in sequence at short notice so tyres fitted with sensors are held in another spiral accumulation bay.

Designed by Vanriet, the units have carefully angled slopes and gravity rollers to control the tyres’ speed of descent.

Vanriet also designed and installed a dispatch line for Range Rover tyre assemblies, which weighing 40kg are not easy to handle.

Brought to the line on stillages by fork truck, the tyres can be easily rolled and placed against a specially designed conveyor track, with a banked supporting platform.

At the end of the track the tyres are rotated by a simple but innovative series of rollers and positioned onto a standard horizontal conveyor section.

Elsewhere tyres can be loaded and offloaded onto the system safely using a small track end-section which is pneumatically pivoted up and down to floor level.

Paul Prigent from Pirelli commented:’ The service we provide to the automotive industry depends on our ability to deliver high quality tyre and wheel assemblies just in time, with the level of technology demanded by luxury carmakers.

An engineering company in Nottingham is bucking the trend of declining British manufacturing by expanding its operation in designing and building custom-manufactured automation systems.
An engineering company in Nottingham is bucking the trend of declining British manufacturing by expanding its operation. industrial automation has recently moved to new premises to facilitate its continued growth. IAL has moved to a larger 26,000ft2 factory, still within Nottingham.

The business has grown by providing companies around the world with custom-manufactured automation systems.

In essence, innovative engineers within the company specialise in solving production-line problems for manufacturers and producers.

The decision to stay within Nottingham was largely a fore-gone conclusion, due to the skill and expertise of the existing staff - built up since the company’s start.

One of the main reasons that is often cited for the decline in British manufacturing is industry’s inability to compete with overseas competition, where labour costs are much lower.

IAL’s solutions can bring considerable labour savings - improving productivity.

Many applications relate to precision placing, often to within fractions of a millimetre, where human handling would be unreliable and impractical.

Some recent examples include an orange peeling line machine and an upside-down palletiser, the only one of its kind in the world.

The company has also recently signed a deal to become the sole UK distributor of Denso robots - state of the art equipment capable of accurately putting a pin in place to a fraction of a millimetre, up to 40 times a minute.

Managing Director, Doctor Martyn Paradise said, ‘With unfavourable exchange rates and stiff overseas competition, UK industry needs to grasp every advantage it can.

IT and automated systems can help lower production costs, improve productivity and reduce reject rates.

Our systems can help enhance the human operatives’ abilities, freeing them to do other tasks.’

With product life spans becoming ever shorter, a manufacturer’s ability to respond quickly to a changing market is why a high-speed assembly system delivers very high flexibility.
Mikron’s latest linear assembly system GO5 heralds a new dimension in high-performance assembly technology. With product life spans becoming ever shorter, a manufacturer’s ability to respond quickly to a changing market is vital. Mikron’s latest generation high-speed assembly system, the GO5, delivers an unrivalled standard of flexibility and performance to give volume manufacturers the winning edge.

Mikron’s new GO5 assembly system marks a sea change in the design of the company’s linear high-speed assembly equipment.

The challenge facing the Mikron engineers was to develop a system that would allow manufactures to quickly bring a new product to market, achieve volume production in the shortest possible time, and then to control production volumes in response to the changes in market demand.

By using standardised modules and easily configured software, together with expert project management, Mikron has succeeded in reducing delivery times by up to 50% with a typical installation taking only three to five months to complete.

This dramatic reduction in lead-time will give manufacturers a valuable advantage when the need to be first-to-market is key to a products success.

Matching production with market demand - the ability to increase or scale down output in response to changing market forces, without wasting valuable resources, is an important factor in the success of a high volume manufacturing plant.

The modular configuration of the GO5 enables the manufacturer to begin production at an expedient level and expand the system progressively in line with the demands of the market.

Reusability double that of previous models - at the end of a products commercial life cycle up to 60% of the assembly equipment can be re-used to produce the next generation of products.

By re-using the equipment in this way the working life of the machinery is considerably extended and the return on initial capital maximised.

Faster cycle speed and product changeover - cycle speeds of up to 100 cycles per minute are now possible compared with 60 CPM for Mikron’s other Flexcell models.

The introduction of fully stand-alone process modules has also dramatically reduced product changeover times.

This innovative concept allows the re-configuration, testing and de-bugging of a new product to take place off-line before its introduction to the production process.

This has resulted in changeover downtime being reduced to only 15 minutes.

Clean room compatibility - the GO5 is fully compatible with the requirements for clean room operation as standard.

Extensive use of stainless steel to withstand frequent cleaning and the incorporation of permanently lubricated moving elements within the cells ensures conformity with class 10,000 clean room standards.

For even more demanding applications requiring clean room conditions exceeding class 10,000 Mikron have developed a laminar flow option which introduces super-filtered clean air directly above the fixture pallets.

Secure long term investment - Mikron is sure that the GO5 high-speed assembly system offers a unique investment opportunity in the rapidly changing and sometimes volatile arena of volume production engineering.

By vastly improving the reusability of the equipment and simplifying its construction and maintenance, the initial capital investment can be amortised more quickly and the system’s service life extended.

The new Mikron GO5 high-performance assembly system at a glance: * Large assembly components/products 100×100x100mm.

* Fixture sizes 60×60, 120×120, 240×240mm.

* assembly stations per process module 4 to 16.

* Cycle times 10 to 100 cycles per minute.

* Index repetition accuracy +/-0.02mm.

* Changeover time (Plug and Produce) 15 minutes.

* Throughput time (arrival of order to delivery) 3 to 5 months.

* Noise 75dBA.

* Control Integrated industrial PC in each process module: process configuration, product administration, statistics, HMI with touch screen.

* Remote assistance Modem internet.

* Standardised Modules Frame, Process Module, Logitic Module, Process Unit.

A system assembles accurately the 8 components of a safety-critical throttle position sensor, and checks the component’s function, all with a cycle time of just 9 seconds.
Safety-critical accelerator pedal sensor assembled in 9 sec Modular Automation has designed an assembly system for Wabash Technologies that can assemble accurately the 8 components of a safety-critical throttle position sensor, and check the component’s function, all with a cycle time of just 9 seconds. The sensor is for a leading Tier 1 pedal manufacturer whose generic throttle pedal design positions it well meet the requirements of many major OEM’s. The sensor provides electronic throttle control that is more accurate and more reliable than cables.

Electronic control is also maintenance free.

The process is essentially automatic but requires two operators to load critical components.

Each operation is checked to make sure that it took place correctly; any incorrect assemblies are flagged on the pallet and pass through without further work.

Laser trimming calibrates the resistance of the unit and an electronic test also ensures that each completed assembly works correctly.

The operator first loads a housing and rotor onto a flagged pallet.

The first automatic station then loads the substrate, ensures that it is laid flat and heat stakes it into position.

The system checks only that the substrate is present, not that it performs correctly.

Electronic testing is carried out later in the process.

This maintains a practical outlook on testing to ensure that every component is tested adequately yet avoid duplication.

Further operations load the spring, rotor and cover, which is heat staked into position to complete the assembly.

There are, however, three operations that are particularly technically demanding: wire bonding, spring contact assembly, and laser trimming.

The wire bonding station uses a proprietary wire bonder to weld 9 hair-thin wire contacts into position to link the substrate with the electrical contacts moulded into the sensor body.

This is a very delicate operation that must be completed perfectly for the sensor to operate correctly.

The spring contact assembly positions three twin-spoked contacts and heat stakes them to secure.

The contacts are only 4mm wide and only 75mm thick and must be secured without deformation.

The system uses a force guage to measure the pressure exerted by every spoke of the contact on the substrate track - too little force would cause a bad connection, to much would wear the track and result in premature failure of the component.

Laser trimming of the substrate track calibrates the final assembly to ensure it has the correct resistance at a zero mechanical position.

The system checks the resistance before and after the trimming process.

Again this is a critical operation that ensures the correct operation of the sensor.

In designing the assembly system Modular Automation has combined its modular philosophy and bespoke creativity into a compact, reliable system that produces zero defect components for this safety critical application.

Modular Automation has vast experience at 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.

A new system assembles spring bolts for a new range of Yale locks that can be switched easily from left to right-handed without dismantling, as required before.
Modular Automation has designed and built a new assembly system for Yale. The system assembles spring bolts for a new range of Yale locks that can be switched easily from left to right-handed. In the past, to switch a Yale lock from right to left-handed (or vice-versa), required the lock to be dismantled.

Now the company has developed a new system that allows the spring bolt assembly to be switched in seconds simply by removing and replacing one screw.

Modular Automation has designed the new assembly system that handles four variants (two sizes, left and right handed) without adjustment.

The process starts with the spring bolt head, bowl fed to a walking beam.

Here automatic stations drill and tap the fixing hole.

A gripper then inverts the bolt head, or not as necessary, to make the left or right-handed locks.

The head is then cleaned and all swarf collected for recovery.

The correctly-orientated bolt heads then transfer to a clean line for assembly.

Here the two parts are aligned and the fixing screw is blow-fed and driven home with an automatic screwdriver.

Although the completed locks can be switched easily from left to right-handed the company prefers to make both types for their customers’ added convenience.

Modular Automation has vast experience at 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.

To achieve total reliability at 200 items/min a linear assembly system was especially developed to assemble six tiny components of a medical non-return check valve with 100% reliability.
Guaranteed reliability in the manufacture of medical equipment can literally mean the difference between life and death. The slightest error in medicine can have tragic consequences. British manufacturer Bespak needed high-speed production, but demanded 100% reliability.

Mikron Assembly Technology provided the solution.

Bespak is one of the world’s leading manufacturers of medical equipment for the administration of drugs, in both liquid and powder form.

One of the company’s products, a non-return check valve, is a device used in medical equipment such as catheters and tracheotomy tubes.

The valve comprises six elements, and the manufacturing process must guarantee 100% reliability.

Cleanliness is vital; any of the assembly systems parts that come into contact with the valve’s components must be made of stainless steel, and the machine must not produce any trace of dust, or particulate.

Total reliability at 200 items/min - Mikron’s Flexcell linear assembly system was especially developed to cope with the intricate task of assembling the tiny components, precisely, at high speed.

Some of the items have to be inserted into the body of the valve within a tolerance of only 0.05mm.

The Flexcell is equipped with six vibrating bowls of different sizes that feed the valve’s components onto pallets containing four sets of nests.

With an operating speed of 50 cycles/min the system is capable of assembling 200 items per minute.

Despite this high rate of production the valves produced are of the highest quality, and display none of the superficial faults (damage to the plastic components) that would consign them irredeemably to the scrap heap.

Reducing the amount of production wastage was one of the improvement initiatives tackled by the team headed by Claude Maitre, project manager at Mikron’s factory in Boudry Switzerland.

The team was able to draw on the experience gained as a result of using an earlier Mikron machine, the Polyfactor, which was installed in Bespak’s King’s Lynn factory in the mid ’90s.

Versitility - the Flexcell developed for Bespak has been configured to produce four different versions of the product.

Changes in the types of material used and differences in the diameter of the caps that seal the valves can therefore be accommodated.

The assembly line comprises 21 stations and the system allows the operator to select random samples for inspection from each of the four nests.

This makes it possible to quickly trace any irregularities to the particular line involved.

Less than one defect per million - Bespak aims for zero defects and demands a minimum defect rate of less than one valve per million.

This underlines the importance of the checks that have been built-in to the Flexcell system to stringently reject any item which does not conform to the company’s exacting standards.

Built with eight, 12, or 16 stations (rotary), or up to 40 stations (linear) an automatic assembly system guarantees exact synchronization of movements and provides precise assembly sequences.
In this day and age, fast-changing trends often dictate technological advances. However, OKU Automatik has succeeded in combining a proven design with today’s technology to produce highly sophisticated and reliable automated assembly machines capable of handling the most complex assembly sequences. For nearly 50 years, OKU Automatik has been designing, building, and delivering the highest quality systems to a vast number of customers worldwide.

To support the network of North American customers, both long-standing and new, OKU Automatik, based in London, Ontario Canada, was established in 1994.

With the popularity of just-in-time delivery, OKU Automatik has recognized the necessity to address a customer’s need quickly.

Quality products, service, and complete customer satisfaction have always been a priority to OKU Automatik, and clearly, a North American presence allows us to serve our customers quickly and conveniently! Our team of highly trained, expert staff design and build assembly systems ranging from the basic rotary indexing systems to the most complex, flexible linear systems.

We even build most of our own component accessories.

Our goal is to help our customers increase productivity while reducing production time and costs.

OKU Automatik’s popular Okumat is a proven system.

Typically built with eight, 12, or 16 stations, the system guarantees exact synchronization of movements and provides precise assembly sequences.

The same mechanical central drive and standardized station elements are also available in linear form, the OKU VarioCell, which can be equipped for up to 40 workstations.

This same principal is further adapted in our CleanCell.

This cell uses a synchronized rotary indexing table and is built for use in clean room applications.

Our asynchronous LT-F system requires minimal floor space while allowing accessibility for operators.

OKU Automatik designed this flexible system to allow for a combination of automatic and operator-controlled workstations, as well as providing ease of integration and tooling upgrades.

To complement our assembly systems, OKU Automatik builds a complete line of accessories, giving our customers the convenience of one-stop shopping.

Vibratory bowl feeders, storage hoppers, sound reduction hoods, linear feeders and tracks are easily integrated into our assembly lines to provide the complete assembly solution of a customer’s product.

Flexibility allows our customers as much or as little automation as their unique assembly project requires.

OKU Automatik has developed assembly solutions for virtually every industry and can adapt flexible, innovate assembly solutions to suit almost any application and budget.

Today’s economy requires wise investment.

OKU Automatik works closely with customers to design the most effective assembly machines, giving particular attention to cost payback and increased production rates with minimal downtime.

Value in the outstanding assembly systems OKU Automatik designs and builds, value in the production levels OKU machines achieve, and value in the reliability and long service life of OKU machines are keys to these essential factors and automation successes!

High-performance reusable assembly system delivers cost per item savings of up to 50% in high-volume high-speed production.
Mikron Assembly Technology’s latest development delivers cost per item savings of up to 50% in high-volume high-speed production. The introduction of the Mikron G05 high-performance assembly system marked a sea of change in the design of production equipment when it was launched earlier this year. Now, the Mikron engineers have developed revolutionary parts feeding technology to provide manufacturers, with high-variety product lines, even greater levels of flexibility and economy in high-speed production.

When Mikron’s engineers designed the G05 high-performance assembly system, their aim was to develop a machine that could respond quickly to changing market trends and retain a high level of reusability when changing over to a new product.

Mikron’s latest development takes this process one stage further by focusing on the machine’s component feeding systems: traditionally the domain of vibratory bowl feeders.

The new system brings levels of versatility not previously available in high-speed assembly equipment.

Developed through experience - experience gained during the development of Mikron’s Robotic Assembly System, Syfast has been utilised to produce a vision recognition feeding system that is compatible with the new G05 linear high-speed machine.

The system, known as Polyfeed, is particularly suited to manufacturers that require high-volume high-speed production, but also need the flexibility to cope with high-variety product lines, without expensive retooling or time-consuming changeovers for each model.

Mikron’s new system dispenses with the need for component dedicated feeding systems, which limit the reusability of conventional assembly machines.

The Polyfeed consists of a parts buffer, a conveyor mechanism, a vibrating platform and a vision recognition system to identify when the parts are in the correct position.

Machined surfaces, within the plate, allow parts to be positioned in otherwise unstable or extremely unusual positions.

This not only increases production by a significant amount, but also means that expensive, inflexible, flip-over devices are largely redundant.

When reconfiguring, tooling plates are released at the touch of a button and the replacement snapped on by hand.

By using this manual procedure the Mikron engineers were able to avoid complicating the system unnecessarily and still maintain a quick changeover.

Maximum reduction in cost per item - the revolutionary design of the Polyfeed means that the cost of the part-specific element of the assembly system can be significantly reduced in relation the rest of the machine.

With conventional configurations it is normal to set the entire cost of the assembly system against the product being produced.

With the Polyfeed it is now possible to write-off the reusable element of the system over its whole lifetime, while the workpiece-specific portion of the investment can be amortised against the individual products being manufactured.

Although other manufacturers have addressed these issues in the past, no one, until now, can really claim to have made a breakthrough.

The Mikron team believe that by developing the new Polyfeed and configuring it for use with the new G05 high-speed system, they have achieved this elusive goal.