Vibrating Bowl Feed Platform to Prevent Component Jamming
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing systems for distributing components in timepiece assembly, such as vibrating bowls, suffer from reliability issues due to component accumulation and jamming, leading to manual intervention and increased production costs, as well as losses from components not being correctly seized by gripping arms.
Innovation Solution
A system with a vibrating bowl and an articulated gripping arm, featuring an ascending helical ramp and a supply platform with detection and sorting devices, eliminates the need for a supply channel and ensures components are systematically recovered and oriented for seizure by the gripping arm, reducing losses and improving sorting efficiency.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a conventional vibrating bowl with a supply channel is used, then components can be distributed to the assembly installation, but components accumulate on the ramp or jam in the supply channel causing malfunctions
Solution Approach 1:
The invention removes the supply channel from the system entirely. Instead of having components travel through a confined supply channel, they are deposited directly onto an open supply platform where they can be easily accessed by the gripping arm, eliminating the jamming problem that occurred in the closed supply channel
Solution Approach 2:
The invention transitions from a linear supply channel to a two-dimensional supply platform. Components are distributed across a planar surface rather than being constrained to a narrow channel, allowing for better component distribution and easier gripping arm access, which prevents accumulation and jamming
2Productivity
If components are not correctly seized by the gripping arm, then distribution continues, but components fall outside the vibrating bowl causing losses
Solution Approach 1:
The invention incorporates a detection device that monitors whether a component is correctly positioned on the supply platform before the gripping arm attempts to seize it. This feedback mechanism allows the system to verify component readiness, ensuring that only properly positioned components are picked up, thereby preventing losses from dropped components
Solution Approach 2:
The detection device performs preliminary verification of component positioning before the gripping arm action. By checking component presence and orientation in advance, the system ensures proper seizure conditions are met, preventing component drops and losses during the distribution process
Applied Scientific Principles
This section explains which scientific principles are used to turn an abstract innovation direction into a practical engineering solution.
Function Achieved in This Case
The system enhances the reliability and efficiency of component distribution, minimizing manual intervention and losses by ensuring components are correctly seized and oriented, thereby optimizing the assembly process and reducing production costs.
Implementation Method 1
a vibrating bowl provided with an enclosure having a wall extending right around an axis of revolution of the bowl and into which said components are placed in bulk
Implementation Method 2
a support that generates vibrations that impart to these components for timepieces, which are generally lightly oiled, a rotational movement about a vertical axis of revolution of this bowl
Implementation Method 3
an ascending helical ramp extending along an internal face of said wall between a base and an upper edge of said vibrating bowl constituting an exit of said ramp
Data Source
AI summary
A system for controlled distribution of components, the system including a vibrating bowl provided with an enclosure having a wall extending right around an axis of revolution of the bowl and in which the components are placed in bulk, and an articulated gripping arm provided to distribute the components to the automatic assembly installation, the vibrating bowl including an ascending helical ramp extending along an internal face of the wall between a base and an upper edge of the vibrating bowl constituting an exit of the ramp, the components being able to travel along this ramp towards a supply platform, particularly a slide, on which at least one component is arranged in advance of its seizure by the articulated gripping arm, the supply platform being connected to the exit and extending above or in the enclosure of the vibrating bowl.