Fixture Spacing on Assembly Conveyor

[macvicar]

Can anyone tell me if there is a standard method/formula for determining the spacing between fixtures/jigs on an assembly conveyor. I know what processes will be completed and the basic sequence & time etc.

Thank-You

 

[don01]

macvicar
my opinion only not scientific study by professor and 12 researchers.
If your line is " rigid " the items can't move and you have no buffering then the spacing will be maximum wastage you can tolerate. Including off load onloading etc. Simply because nothing moves until that one is done.

If the items have some flexibilty and stay on the line and buffer up then its the speed of the transport system ~ the items won't clash. This will approximate the unload or load time. when the work is not moving wth the line.

I hope that is a bit of use to you. Maybe it will geneerate some comment from our more learned colleques.

Regards
Don

 

[GaryE]

The facility I work for use to have a rigid fixture assembly line. I agree with the point of minimum distance between the fixtures. However, another point to consider is live and dead load. If you are building from scratch, make sure that the structural members can support the weight. I had to deal with a situation where the weight of the carriers would overwhelm the system. Another point is that be sure that you have done a good line balancing with the fixtures. More fixtures at the same speed could cause for a imbalance.

Hope this helps

 

[wallycutler]

If you are going to use fixed centers for the assembly pallets,as in a slat conveyor or monorail conveyor,you need to analyze the time it takes to do a particular operation and the distance the conveyor travels in that time. You could of course use an indexing conveyor that only moves when the last assembly station is done and the part removed. A better design is an accumulating conveyor which will allow a buffer of pallets between operations. You can stop the pallet at each station to perform the assembly operation and then the operator can release it to go to the next station. Spacing then becomes a function of how many positions (pallets) you want to buffer between stations.