One of SDC’s long-term customers that manufactures corrugated tubing for appliances needed a machine to assemble, leak test and mark their product.
The SDC team developed a comprehensive assembly and test machine with five process stations. Fed by the customer’s extruder line which makes the drain tubes out of corrugated rubber, the tubes enter the machine by a belt conveyor. While on the conveyor, a Cognex camera takes a picture of the front and back of the tube to determine orientation and verify cut length. A FANUC SCARA robot picks good parts off the conveyor belt and places them into the servo indexing conveyor.
The machine verifies the parts were loaded using photoelectric sensors. A compression test measures the deflection of the top of the part under low and high pressure by using Keyence high accuracy touch probes. A process station locates the tubes by using a 2-axis pneumatic pusher.
Another station friction welds the fitting to the tube. This is accomplished by a multi axis servo system spinning the fitting at a high speed while inserting into the tube. The tube is then marked by an ink jet mark application. The mark is then verified by two Cognex cameras. The parts index into the unload station where a servo pick-and-place transfers the parts into the final 6 up air test. Parts are then sorted accordingly.
Machine Rate: 24 parts per minute
