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Feeder Flexibility in Placement Machines
December 31, 1969 |Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Flexibility, adaptability, and cost savings are catch phrases in today’s electronics assembly industry. With most companies placing constraints on capital expenditures, selecting pick-and-place equipment can be a daunting task. Feeder flexibility takes one major concern out of this decision-making process.
By Michael Swab
When selecting a pick-and-place machine, the average company will allot one-third to one-half of the machine’s purchase price to additional feeders. This percentage can easily increase if large tape or specialty feeders, such flash memory programmers, stick feeders, or label feeders are added to the portfolio. Most pick-and-place machine manufacturers design their machines to be used with one particular proprietary feeder format. This means the feeders used on brand “X” will not fit on brand “Y.” To add more consternation to this mix, some manufacturers have mixed formats in their product line-up that prevent feeder compatibility between equipment models.
Feeder incompatibility can leave an end user feeling trapped into using a certain brand or specific machine type. If the end user wants to switch to another pick-and-place manufacturer, he will need to consider the cost of duplicating his feeder portfolio with a second vendor’s feeders. This does not include feeder repair, calibration tooling, or spare parts that are normally kept on-hand for feeder maintenance. This problem is compounded if the manufacturer under consideration does not offer a specific feeder style or size.
Another issue is changing the feeder interface of the pick-and-place machine permanently. All feeder positions can be changed over to one style of feeder, or multiple brands/styles can be installed on one machine. Conceivably, four different manufacturers’ feeders can be used on one machine. The advantage of this is transparency and safety for the user. The machine is set up to permanently use a certain type of feeder so any safety settings or special machine settings are done during machine fabrication or modification. If the design and installation of adaptive feeder bars is done correctly, converting back to the machine vendor’s feeder interface is straightforward. The downside to this type of interface is that a field-service visit is required to swap between bars (Figure 1).
Figure 1. A pick-and-place machine with a non-standard feeder installed on fixed bars.
A second method is providing a removable interface plate or device that adapts the feeder to the machine’s interface. This involves installing an interface plate or block onto the pick-and-place machine. The interface adapter provides the mechanical adaptation between the machine and feeder, as well as any electrical or pneumatic interface requirements. The benefit of the removable interface plate is the ability to switch between feeder types on the pick-and-place machine without the need for factory service personnel or a large-scale retrofit. This allows users to take advantage of common feeder platforms, or use specialized feeders from a different machine manufacturer. The disadvantage is the physical feeder-plate exchange. Reattaching the interface plate can be tedious and difficult; slight machine modifications may be needed when switching between feeder types. This increases the risk that certain safety settings may be left disconnected, or will have to be defeated, and critical settings like pick height may be left in an unsafe condition. There is also the risk that the user installs the interface plate incorrectly - leading to possible head crashes. Finally, there is a time factor. Most adapter devices require the operator to lift the device into the machine and secure it using mechanical clamps, screws, or bolts.
A third method is available with machines that use feeder trolleys or carts. This involves using a factory-modified feeder cart designed for use with a different make of feeder. This cart or trolley has all the mechanical, electrical, and, if needed, pneumatic fittings to interface brand “A” feeder to brand “X” machine. This has some desirable features compared to other methods, including ease of changeover. Because no machine modifications are needed, only a routine feeder-cart exchange is required to adapt the pick-and-place machine to another feeder brand/style. The machine interfacing is transparent to the user (Figure 2).
Figure 2. A fine-pitch placer with two different feeders installed on exchange carts.
An adaptive feeder cart offers the advantages of a factory built-in version. This method is flexible enough to use feeders from different pick-and-place machine manufacturers, and allows a nearly transparent changeover.
Conclusion
An adaptive feeder system offers several benefits, including reduced operator training and feeder repair setups, reduction in up-front feeder investments, and flexibility when selecting the most suitable pick-and-place machine.
In today’s manufacturing environment, these points are key in production-equipment selection. The adaptive feeder-bar system allows contract manufacturers (CMs) or OEMs to break from having to buy new feeder inventories up front when changing pick-and-place machine vendors.
Michael Swab, technical support specialist, Assembléon America, may be contacted at (770) 751-4678; e-mail: michael.swab@philips.com.