Screw Driving Robot delivers and installs range of fasteners.January 28, 2010 -
Incorporating Selectively Compliant Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA), Viper MBC delivers and installs fasteners such as screws, nuts, bolts, pins, clips, brass rings, and barbed darts. System includes Visumatic Model 94 feeder, which automatically delivers each screw directly to tooling tip. Tooling is physically located at end of second SCARA joint, so joints 3 and 4 are spared tightening forces and tooling weight carried by them is minimized. Zero-offset design ensures repeatable assembly.
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Original Press release
Visumatic Industrial Products
856 Porter Place
Lexington, KY, 40508
USA
Assembly Technology Leaps Ahead with Launch of Viper MBC Screw Driving Robot
Automation projects that require driving fasteners quickly & accurately now
have a rapid deployment package.
Lexington, Kentucky - Visumatic has released their newest innovation - the Viper MBC. Manufacturers who assemble products are reporting great success with this new tool in labor-saving technology. The Viper MBC screw driving robot is designed to automatically deliver and install a wide range of fasteners: screws, nuts, bolts, pins, clips, brass rings, and barbed darts.
The Viper MBC system includes the reliable Visumatic Model 94 feeder, which automatically delivers each screw directly to the tooling tip. Conventional screw install robot systems are of the pick-and-place variety, in which a screw is fed to an intermediate location, where it waits for the robot to pick it up. This antiquated design requires a return trip from the work area to the pick up point for each and every screw to be installed. Feeding the screw directly to the tooling tip eliminates this travel, effectively cutting product assembly time in half.
Assembly machine builders who are strapped for time appreciate the simplicity of a complete modular screw driving package. The Viper MBC is pre-programmed so that it can be placed in position and be ready to go with minimal set up. Integrators who are not completely versed in fastener installation techniques recognize the value of its very short learning curve.
The quality control provided by the Viper MBC starts with the incorporation of a Selectively Compliant Assembly Robot Arm (SCARA). Precision assembly tasks require the robot to be stiff in the vertical direction (because it has to push things together) and a bit compliant (forgiving) in the horizontal plane, because of the imperfect relative positioning between the tooling tip and its counterpart on the assembly table. The desired selective compliance behavior is intrinsic to both the SCARA and the Visumatic end-of-arm-tooling design.
The zero offset design is a vast improvement over conventional mounting, which is located at the extreme end of the robot arm. This approach suffers from an exaggerated cantilever effect. The screw tightening torque is transferred directly to the extended joints, and the bulk of the tooling payload is magnified and applied to them as well.
The Viper MBC tooling is physically located at the end of the second SCARA joint. Joints 3 and 4 are spared the tightening forces, and the tooling weight carried by them is reduced to roughly 1/3 of the tooling mass. This moment control results in a fast motion, longer robot life, and allows proper robot sizing for the work envelope. Visumatic's exclusive zero-offset design ensures repeatable assembly with reliable statistical process control and product quality assurances.
When customers present an assembly problem that is slowing them down, is labor intensive, or more technically involved than they wish, Visumatic engineers take on the challenge. They work to develop solutions that will continuously save their clients time and money by reducing integration costs and streamlining manufacturing processes. These valuable industry-first capabilities in fastening technology are then added to Visumatic's arsenal of assembly solutions.
Visumatic Industrial Products is a family owned and operated business headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky. They are experts in feeding and driving technology, specializing in automated fastening systems for factories that do product assembly work. All machinery is designed, built, and tested in-house, and offered through a distributor network in the USA, Canada, Mexico and the United Kingdom.
Digital Media Links:
Visumatic Web Site | http://www.visumatic.com/
Viper MBC Product Web Page | http://www.visumatic.com/mb/mb_viper_mbc.html
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