Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453

Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and

Inspection
MM453

Dr. Nigel Kent

Rm S366
[email protected]

Dublin City University

Sem 1 2022

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11

Lecture 11

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11

Automatic Assembly
The following aspects will be considered in this section of the
course:
• Transfer Systems
• Parts Feeding
• Mechanisms
• Orientation
• Tracks and escapements
• Performance Assessment
• Cost Justification

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11

Reasons for automating include:

The following aspects will be considered in this section of the
course:
• Reduce cost
• Increase productivity
• Improve consistency and quality
• Remove operators from hazardous environments/operations

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Transfer Systems

Separate workstations, move the workpiece between them.

Usually the workpiece is placed on a base or work carrier.
Transfer system topology:
• In line - workstations organised linearly
• Rotary - workstations organised around a central point
(usually a maximum of six).

Transfer system motion:

• Continuous - workhead moves with the transfer system -
acceleration/deceleration, accuracy are key.
• Intermittent - workhead is kept stationary, work piece is
moved on an intermittent basis.

When all workheads or workpieces move simultaneously the system

is known as an indexing machine.
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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Transfer Systems

For in line machines intermittent transfer can be effected in a

number of ways:

Walking Beam

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Transfer Systems

For in line machines intermittent transfer can be effected in a

number of ways:

Pawl Transfer

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Transfer Systems

For in line machines intermittent transfer can be effected in a

number of ways:

Shunting

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Transfer Systems

For in line machines intermittent transfer can be effected in a

number of ways:

Chain Transfer

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Transfer Systems

Rotary intermittent transfer machines

Intermittent translational motion converted to intermittent

rotational

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Transfer Systems

Rotary intermittent transfer machines

Intermittent translational motion converted to intermittent

rotational

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Transfer Systems

Rotary intermittent transfer machines

Continuously rotational converted to intermittent rotational

Geneva Mechanism

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Transfer Systems

Geneva mechanism characteristics

• More expensive than the pneumatic piston drive systems.
• Can transmit higher torques.
• Quite prone to wear: lubricate and carefully set distance
between the centres of the driving and driven wheels.
Geneva Mechanism Video

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Transfer Systems

Few stations: Many stations:

Small Driven Wheel Large Driven Wheel
Sideways motion par- Any sideways motion
tially accounted for by pushes immeadiately
larger angle of slot on sidewall

Relative speed of the driven Pin begins to enter the slot with a
member is high, fixed power and higher velocity perpendicular to the
torque low. Particularly at midway slot this imparts a greater
transfer phase when the pin is acceleration profile at start and
closest to the centre of the driven end of transfer phase.
wheel. This leads to a very peaked
acceleration profile.

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Transfer Systems

Geneva example

An indexing table driven by a Geneva mechanism has six stations

and a driver speed of 12rpm.
Calculate the indexing time and the dwell time.

Driven Member

Driver

C B
A

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Transfer Systems

Since the pin enters the slot at a right angle:

0.5× angle A+ angle B + 90◦ = 180◦
0.5× angle A+ angle B = 90◦
2× angle B+ angle C = 360◦

(2 × B)/360◦
Index time = where n is the driver speed
n
◦
C/360
Dwell time = where n is the driver speed
n

Angle A = 360◦ /6 = 60◦

Angle B = 90◦ − 30◦ = 60◦
Angle C = 360◦ − 120◦ = 240◦

(120◦ )/360◦
∴ index time = = 0.027min = 1.67seconds
12
(240◦ )/360◦
and dwell time = = 0.055min = 3.33sec
12
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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Transfer Systems
Cross Over Cam

• Can provide high

torque.
• Is accurate and
consistent.
• Is relatively bulky and
expensive to
manufacture
• Cross Over Cam
Video

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Transfer Systems

Acceleration profile obtained with the Cross Over cam depends on

the cam shape, 3 profiles are used:
Sine, Modified Sine(better) and Modified Trapezoid(best)

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Influencing Factors

The factors influencing the choice of indexing machine are:

1 Required lifetime – larger machine lasts longer
2 Dynamic torque required – this is the torque necessary to
move a fully loaded machine taking into account all inertia
and friction forces. Also an additional over capacity is
included to account for aging and wear
3 Static torque – this is the torque required to withstand forces
from the workheads. If dowels or locating plungers are used
then this is negligible and the power requirement of the
machine is dictated by the dynamic torque.
4 Power source – single phase, three phase, pneumatic,
hydraulic.
5 Acceleration pattern – In an effort to minimise cycle time
the transfer phase should be as short as possible. However
very high acceleration will lead to excessive loads so a smooth
acceleration profile is preferred to prolong the life of the
machine.
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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Influencing Factors

In the transfer stations mentioned so far any malfunction at any

one of the work stations will cause the entire machine to shut
down. All operations must be completed in a set time period. This
is known as machine pacing.
If the system only indexes when told to by a feedback signal from
the individual stations it is known as operator pacing.
Flexibility can be enhanced by placing storage buffers between the
stations. This way each station becomes somewhat independent of
other stations. These are known as free transfer machines.

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Manufacturing Automation for Assembly and Inspection MM453
Lecture 11
Influencing Factors

Automatic assembly was required to keep up with the needs of

mass production. Formerly a complete product was produced by
one craftsman. In 1798 ER Whitney tendered to make 10,000
muskets in 28 months. He produced interchangeable parts on
machines which led to simpler assembly, better quality and lower
price (although it took 10.5 years to complete the contract!)
Olivier Evans developed conveyor systems in a mill in 1793
Frederick Winslow Taylor introduced time and motion studies.
Optimum spatial positioning of tools and components relative to
the worker were examined. Also he established an optimum speed
of work which should not be exceeded.
Henry Ford automated the assembly of cars with a conveyor system
and by considering the ergonomics of the production line. He
brought the original production time of 12h 28min down to 10sec!

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