Feeding parts to machine by tubing???
Feeding parts to machine by tubing???
(OP)
I'm an intern for a company that makes fasteners and other automotive parts such as ball studs for automobiles. I just recently had to design an adjustable feed rail that carries parts from a hopper down into the machine. There is a drop of about three feet over a distance of about four feet. At the top ball studs are fed into a 2 1/4" piece of conduit. At the end of the tube the parts drop into two parallel rails where they hang by thier head and slide into the machine. The problem is that the drop is too much. the parts fly too fast and don't fall into the rail right. If the parts are moving slow enough they fall in perfectly. I've tried everything from rubber strips in the tube to roughing up the inner surface by sand blasting to slow the parts down. On the other hand they can't go to slow or they will stop. I can't change the drop or the distance. Any ideas would be help I'm stumped. Thanks
ME intern for 4 years. addicted to anything mechanical! Car nut.





RE: Feeding parts to machine by tubing???
RE: Feeding parts to machine by tubing???
RE: Feeding parts to machine by tubing???
ME intern for 4 years. addicted to anything mechanical! Car nut.
RE: Feeding parts to machine by tubing???
2) A vibratory feed mechanism can load the parts at any speed. Change the design to incorporate a small vibrating ramp.
3) Put some holes in the tube. Drop in small pieces of rubber to brush against the parts as they pass. You can add strips of rubber at intervals to slow the parts down, experiment with different durometers. Perhaps put in bristles from a brush that they can rub against.
4) Put in a gate. Operate the gate with a solenoid. This will stop the part for a moment before it drops.
RE: Feeding parts to machine by tubing???
if you need more information let me know.
Christian
RE: Feeding parts to machine by tubing???
Griffy
RE: Feeding parts to machine by tubing???
Barry
RE: Feeding parts to machine by tubing???
I think I can imagine your part's front and side view and what you are trying to do. What I want to do is orient the part for the parallel feed rails. Because of the part geometry, or at least what I am thinking you are dealing with, that is, a round profile - a circle with a stud coming out of the bottom - I think you may need to feed the part to the rails at 90 degrees. In this fashion, you can use a little "kicker" to rotate the part to the proper location so the parts do not fall thru the rails.
Another idea is to change your tube to a curved rail, called a twister in some old conveyor trades.
Got any pictures?
RE: Feeding parts to machine by tubing???
Put a helix in your tube.
Griffy
RE: Feeding parts to machine by tubing???
RE: Feeding parts to machine by tubing???
We use similar *kind of* product at my place. We are sending parts from 2.5 ft box down to the machine under 70* degree angel and ~6 ft in the length and what we did was. We install on out feed part (last 3 ft of run) very soft brushes that slowly stopping parts from top of rail (tubing) on down fall. it's working great for us.
I hope this may give you some idea to work with.
wish you luck.
boke:)
P.S if you need more info be free to contact me.