Vibratory bowl feeder : simplification of part orientation

• Main Author: Wong, Alvin Ho Wei.
• Other Authors: David Lee Butler
• Format: Final Year Project
• Language: English
• Published: 2012
• Subjects: DRNTU::Engineering::Manufacturing; DRNTU::Engineering
• Online Access: http://hdl.handle.net/10356/50221
• Institution: Nanyang Technological University

This report considers the limitations of a conventional vibratory bowl feeder which is used to feed and orientate set screws. In this work, a portable vibratory parts feeder was designed and fabricated with the objective of orientating set screws in a specific direction by means of a simple and cost effective method. This feeder exploits the unique capabilities of using dimension alterations of an external rotating wheel to assist with the parts orientation process. This report serves to further improve on the efficiency of the bowl feeder design in bid to reduce cost, manufacturing procedure as well as attaining modularity. The oscillating actuators used to generate the feed vibrations are also capable of generating large horizontal planar motions, allowing the feeder to serve larger components which require stronger vibrations to move. The bowl feeder was designed with minimal critical physical dimensions, allowing for different sizes of set screws to be fed with minor adjustments in the gap between the tracks of the top bowl and the rotating wheel. Previous designs or designs of bowl feeders did not cater to the stated feature and the current available design meant for sorting set screws was found to be neither reliable nor efficient. To validate the robustness of the current design, a series of experiments were conducted to ensure that the bowl feeder would orientate the set screws to the specific direction required. In addition, the rate of output was also of interest as a comprehensive sorting system can accurately orientate components and also produce a reasonable output. Finally, limitations of the current design were reviewed and an improved design is proposed. The improved design will increase output by means of increasing the number of tracks located in the bowl. Through the subdivisions of tracking, the efficiency of the bowl feeder can increase considerably. Such a design allows the bowl feeder to retain its uniqueness in terms of being cost effective, compact yet comprehensive (catering to different sizes of set screws).