In this challenge, Dartronics, Inc. operated as an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) for a fellow leading distributor of packaging solutions. Their customer is a leading RV replacement parts, hardware, and accessories supplier, with a product lineup that includes everything from hardware to electrical, plumbing to LP Gas, and much more! They package 5,000 clamshell containers by hand daily, which became very problematic for several reasons. Packaging 5,000 clamshells daily by hand takes up a lot of physical space for the company; each packer needs their packaging area. Also, manually packaging that many clamshells began causing ergonomic injuries and discomfort to their employees. The customer required a clamshell feeding conveyor system with custom automation–fortunately, our Dartronics Inc, Engineering team jumped into action and drew up a proposed system.

Proposed System: Dartronics ClamShell Denester Conveyor & Closing System

Major System Components:  

• • • Reciprocating Placer to Denest Clamshells
    • Custom Indexing Conveyor
    • Card Placer
    • Plow Close Mechanism
    • Clamshell Closer

Custom Solution Description:

Our custom clamshell denester conveyor & closing system proved a successful solution for the customer. Its new and faster way to package thousands of plastic clamshells, takes up less space, requires less operators, while simulatenously ramping up production from 5,000 to 15,000 clamshell containers a day! Most importantly, the operation of our new custom machinery can be mastered as explained in the description below:

• Dartronics manufactured a clam shell denesting, conveying and closing system with four basic product sizes.
• Clam shells will be loaded into a magazine 4-up, picked and placed onto an indexing conveyor. The clam shells are placed down perpendicular onto the conveyor with the open cavity facing the operator and lid facing away. The blister moves sideways down the indexing conveyor. The hinge is parallel to the motion of travel.
• The Servo driven Indexing conveyor will index four times with a short pause “X” between the 1st through 4th blister for card inserting and final clam shell pinched closed. After the 4th blister, the index conveyor will have a longer pause “XX” for manual filling and the placement of four new clam shells.
• The indexing conveyor has a fixed back rail and adjustable front rail with toolless change over. The rails are spaced far enough for the clamshell to nest between the rails with minimal movement.
• The indexing conveyor has lugs that push the placed clamshells down the conveyor. The pitch between products is 6”.
• Operators will hand place the products into the clam shells.
• The conveyor will index automatically based on a timer or just after placement of next set of clam shells. The minimum cycle time is 6 seconds for the placer. After further testing more time may be needed reducing the output.
• Time based: The index conveyor will move 1st blister into position, pause for X seconds allowing time for the card to be inserted and clam shell to be closed. The index conveyor will move the 2nd blister into position and pause for X seconds for 2nd card to be inserted and next clam shell to be closed. The index conveyor will move the 3rd blister into position and pause for X seconds for 3rd card to be inserted and a 3rd clam shell to be closed. The index conveyor will move the 4th blister into position and pause for XX seconds for 4th card to be inserted, a 4th clam shell to be closed, manual loading of product, and blister placement onto conveyor. It is estimated that the short pause for card inserting and closing is less than1 second and the long pause for product placement and blister placement is greater than 3 seconds. Further testing is needed to determine just how fast we can insert the cards accurately. Additional feeders can be added to speed up process.
• Each time a blister with card is inserted, a pneumatic mechanism will press down the inserted cards to seat them properly.
• The lid of the clam shell will be plowed over and then pinched closed.
• The system is operated by a PLC “Programmable Logic Controller” with color touch screen with the exception of the placer and card feeder having their own controls, integrated with the main PLC.

The system is capable of producing up to 32 clamshells per minute. There will be maximum of 8 placements of 4 clamshells every cycle. Placer cycle of a minimum of 7.5 seconds. Of course, the speed can be reduced for more complex filling, fewer or less trained operators.

Clamshell Denester Conveyor & Closing System In Action:

The Results:

After a few short weeks, our engineering team was able to build and test the clamshell denester conveyor and closing system. We produced excellent samples, and the customer happily picked up the machinery for their facility.

For more info on the above project, or if you have one in mind, call and speak to our Engineers now for a free evaluation! Our expert team is here to help make your line simpler to operate, with faster speeds that will increase your ROI.  Take A Free Evaluation!. Email us at Sales@dartronics.com or Call Dartronics at +1 (800) 298-8936  for more info.

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A customer that is a major producer of electronic and fiber optic connectors, cable, and interconnecting systems; came to us for a new way to print lot codes on their circuit boards. They wanted to improve their process by reducing the number of operators needed to operate their current machinery and were also looking for a faster, simple, more efficient process. Our Dartronics Inc, Engineering team jumped into action and drew up a proposed system.

Proposed System: Dartronics Stand Alone CIJ Circuit Board Printing System

Major System Components:  

• • Squid CIJ Printers x Qty 2
  • Yamaha XY Electric Cartesian Robot
  • 180-Degree Pneumatic Rotary Indexing Table
  • Electrical Enclosure
  • Safety Relay with Two Buttons Start
  • Extruded Aluminum Frame Enclosure on Leveling Feet
  • Unitronics PLC Controller with Color Touch Screen HMI

System Cycle Time:  

• • About 5 seconds to print one circuit board.

Working Description:  

• • Operator would key in the lot number to be printed.
  • Operator would place one circuit board tray onto the rotary table and activate a two-hand button start.
  • The rotary pneumatic turntable will rotate 180° into the printing station.
  • In the printing station the Yamaha XY Electric Cartesian Robot would traverse and with the help of the attached two CIJ Print Heads; print all 10 up lot numbers on 20 locations on the circuit board.
  • While one board is being printed the operator would load another tray onto the rotary table and activate the two-hand button start.
  • The printed tray would return to the operator to be removed & operator places the next tray with the circuit board and activated the two-hand button start.
  • Cycle Continues unit all the circuit board are printed for that particular batch

Our Custom Solution:

Our custom-built stand-alone CIJ (Continued Inkjet) system was a success for our customer; it was a new and faster way to print lot codes onto circuit boards, and the new process allowed our customers to reduce their overhead. The new circuit printing system only needs one operator, whereas the customer’s previous machine required several. Most importantly, the operation of our new custom machinery can be mastered in four simple steps:

Step 1: Power on PLC touch screen controller.

Step 2: Select the home button to activate both linear slides and put the system into print mode.

Step 3: Click the print button on the Squid Ink CIJ (Continued InkJet) printer to print onto the boards as they pass by.

Step 4: Load the circuit board onto the unit and click both buttons within 1 second of each other as a safety feature to start the run. (Each circuit board must be loaded by clicking both buttons as a safety feature).

CIJ Circuit Board Printing System In Action:

The Results:

After a few short weeks, our engineering team was able to build and test the custom stand-alone CIJ circuit printing system. We produced excellent samples, and the customer happily picked up the machinery for their facility.

For more info on the above project, or if you have one in mind, call and speak to our Engineers now for a free evaluation! Our expert team is here to help make your line simpler to operate, with faster speeds that will increase your ROI.  Take A Free Evaluation!. Email us at Sales@dartronics.com or Call Dartronics at +1 (800) 298-8936  for more info.

The post CIJ Circuit Board Printing System Solution appeared first on Dartronics.