Feeding of half bearings or similar semi-circular parts is not easy and as these parts are very large in size, using a bowl feeder does not make since nor is it economical. Hence, Elscint has developed a unique feeding system for feeding of Half Bearings of various sizes. Half Bearings of upto dia 90 mm or even more can be fed through this system. This equipment consists of an Elscint Vibratory Hopper Feeder, two Elscint Linear Vibratory Feeders and an Elscint Small Parts (Conveyor) Feeder. The speed of operation or the feed rate can be upto 60 pieces per minute in an oriented manner. This Speed can be varied through a potentiometer. Electronic Controls are provided to synchronize the speed of the various components listed above. The Elscint Small Parts (Conveyor) Feeder is used for recirculation of unused parts. A special orientation device is used for orientation of the Half Bearings. Upto 150 Kgs of material can be loaded in the Vibratory Hopper. This makes the system totally manless and the operator can be utilized to do some other work. This system has been found beneficial to various Half Bearing Manufacturers all over the world. It has helped improve productivity by almost 100%. 

Elscint Automation has developed a innovative Rotary Feeder for feeding of coins. Various Coins having different thickness and diameters can be fed through the same Rotary Feeder with slight changeover tooling. The Rotary Feeder has a rugged design and is made in cast iron and lined with suitable material for better rigidity. An AC geared motor of Elscint make having variable speed is used. This helps adjust the feeding speed according to the actual requirement of the user. The advantage in case of a rotary feeder as against a vibratory parts feeder is that rotary feeders work at much higher speeds and thus a better feed rate can be achieved. Other parts that can be fed through a rotary feeder are bottle caps, cylindrical rollers, needle rollers etc.

Many times multiple outlets are required for a vibratory bowl feeder. It is better from the customer’s point of view to have a multiple outlet bowl feeder rather than getting purchasing multiple bowl feeders. One can have tracks from 2 to even upto 10 or more depending upon the part to be fed, the orientation etc. In fact, Elscint has developed a novel vibratory parts feeder, which can feed cylindrical components like needles, rivets, tablets etc. in ten tracks. Due to this, the output, which can be achieved through the bowl feeder can be as high as 8000 pieces per minute.

Parts which make up a electron gun are very delicate and require careful handling. Hence, it is important not to handle them by hand and feed them automatically. This is where a bowl feeder comes into picture. The orientation of these parts is difficult though speeds are not very high. As the parts are plated and require shiny finish, there is a possibility of these parts becoming blackish while being fed in a vibratory feeder. Hence, it is important to provide PU coating for the bowls. Further for taking care of the critical orientation, it is preferable to get the bowls machined on a VMC machine.

Chains links are a very small part where the orientation is difficult and the required feed rate or speed is also very high (upto 300 pieces per minute). Not only is their orientation very difficult as there is very less difference between the two ends but the links being very flat and thin (0.60 mm in thickness) makes it doubly difficult. However, Elscint Automation (www.elscintautomation.com) has developed a Vibratory Bowl Feeder, which not only orients the links in the correct manner but also feeds them at a very high speed. The outer track is made in such a way to ensure that there is an overflow which means that there is no jamming of components in the track even if the outlet is closed / chute is full. This eliminates the requirement of having a Sensor for stopping the Vibratory Bowl Feeder every time the outlet chute is full.

Feeding of very large bolts or screws in a vibratory part feeder bowl is not possible. However, Elscint has developed an innovative feeding system for feeding of Bolts having size M 6 to M 24 and length between 30 mm to 200 mm. Any number of sizes between these dimensions can be fed through this type of feeding system. A chain elevator feeder and a custom built vibratory linear feeder are used in this case. Bulk loading of the bolts can be done at the ground level in a 200 Ltr. Hopper. The elevator feeder carries the bolts from the hopper to a height of about three meters from where they are unloaded onto a customized Elscint In-Line Rail Feeder which then transports the bolts in head up direction. A Pneumatic Escapement can also be attached to this equipment, if required. This releases the bolts one at a time on receipt of a 24 V DC signal. Speed of between 50 to 200 pieces per minute can be achieved depending upon the sizes of the bolts. The system results in a smooth flow of components without any starvation to the subsequent Machine.

Vibratory bowl feeders are used for feeding and orienting of small components. There are numerous uses of these feeder bowls. One common usage of vibratory bowl feeders is for feeding of Engine Valves having dia from 20 mm to 50 mm and length between 30 mm to 200 mm. Depending up the valve size, a suitable model of vibratory bowl feeder can be selected. Thereafter, through a Pneumatic Uptake System, a bunch of Engine Valves can be transported up to a height of 2 Meters from the Ground Level for further feeding. This can be used for any machine like shaft strengthening machine, grinding machine, turning etc. Speed of between 40 to 100 pieces per minute can be achieved depending upon the sizes of the engine valves. Such a system results in a smooth flow of components without any starvation to the next machine and can increase the productivity of the engine valve producing unit by even upto 40%. The biggest advantage of this system is loading of the heavy engine valves at a height of just 500 mm, usage of the bare minimum space and flexibility of feeding various sizes of Engine Valves through the same feeding system. In fact, Elscint Automation (www.elscintautomation.com) has perfected this type of feeding equipment and can even sell only the vibratory bowl feeder or only the pneumatic take up unit. Elscint offers this in PLC and non-PLC (Electrical control) versions.

Vibratory bowl feeders are used for feeding and orienting of small components. There are numerous uses of these feeder bowls. One of the usages is to provide counting of components. Any small part like Plastic Caps, Spouts, Screws, Rivets, Capsules and Electrical Connectors, bearings as well as heavy parts such as anchor bolts, bearing races and metal sockets can be counted using this concept. For this the standard equipment consists of a suitable vibratory bowl feeder, a sensing device and an electronic reset able counting system. Counting speeds can be very high, even upto 1000 parts per minute, depending upon the component which requires counting. Once a preset number is reached, the Counting can be made to stop automatically. Restart can be either manually or again automatically on receiving of a signal. This equipment finds use in various industries, namely, cosmetic, electrical, mechanical, pharmaceutical, optical, bearing and many other industries. Counting through this system is not only highly accurate but the system can be further integrated to include a conveyor system to even automate the feeding and packing of the parts in containers. For this and such other innovative feeding concepts, contact Elscint Automation (www.elscintautomation.com).

Vibratory bowl feeders can be used in feeding of almost any small component. There are numerous possibilities of using a vibratory feeder. Now Elscint Automation (www.elscintautomation.com ) has introduced another possibility of using vibratory bowl feeders. It can be called an  automatic tapping machine. In this machine, the components are fed through a vibratory bowl feeder to the tapping station. At the tapping station, tapping takes place with the help of a specially designed tapping head attachment. The completed component is then unloaded in a bin or ejected, as per requirement. In case of special requirements, tapping at two places can be done on the same component! Speed of upto 40 parts per minute is possible. In fact, Elscint provides this machine with PLC control to make the to suit the requirements of customers and their respective Budgets. This machine adds tremendous value wherever there is a requirement of tapping on small components. Two, three or even more bowl feeders as well as tapping heads can be accommodated on the same table with independent operations, however controlled by a single PLC. This helps not only in making the machine compact but also reduces the cost of an incremental machine.

These are gravity tracks made to move the components further from the bowl to the work rest or pick up point. In case of the gravity chute, the back pressure of the components and the inclination of the chute result in movement of the components from the bowl to the work rest or pick up point. The advantage of using a gravity chute is that it is cheaper to make as well as to maintain. But the disadvantage of the same is that due to the emphasis on back pressure and inclination, a few (7 to 8) components are always required in the chute for generating continous and consistent pressure. Further another point to remember is that gravity chutes require a certain degree of inclination without which their will be pressure on the vibratory feeder and reduce the performance of the bowl feeder. An angle of at least 30 degrees is recommended for gravity chutes and this should be further increased in case of light weight parts to aid their flawless moment. In case the bowl feeder is used for the centreless grinding operation, a gravity chute can lead to uneven pressure and quality of the ground components suffer due to this.