LF SORT - Loop Feeder™

LF Sort

The SORT model of Loop Feeder is a system composed by a circular vibrant fed by a vibrating hopper.

The vibrating bowl allows either the positioning of the items in a single-file line or at least their preliminary arrangement on the belt. In its terminal area, the belt has a backlight fixed under a special cloth in order to facilitate the scan and the grip by the robot.

Unpicked items recirculate in a vibrating channel, a belt with opposite direction, leading them to the vibrant, thus creating a continuous loop.

The challenge

The client is a machine constructor in the automotive field. He needed his robot to pick up discs and membranes with a thickness of 0.5 mm. Besides the thickness, the other issues were due to the silicon material of one of the models and to the possible flashings of the plastic one. It was obvious that accumulation was impossible and that there was no certainty about the items to always arrive individually and detached from the others.

Further requests:
1) Getting a single item always picked up every 2 seconds in the gripping area.

The LF SORT solution

We realized a vibrating bowl with the sole purpose of thin the items out as much as possible. With a simple adjustment it was possible to manage different thicknesses. The pre-oriented discs deposited on the belt, which separated them further through its vibration, and arrived then at the scan and gripping area of the robot. Double, attached or unpicked items were discarded and conveyed back into the bowl through another vibrating channel.

Final outcome:

Orderly and continuous distribution of the items

High cadence of grip/items, since these are averagely already oriented

Easy usage and implementation with the client’s robot

Low noise

Compact overall dimensions

The client gained performances beyond his own expectancies