Elscint recently manufactured and supplied six large bowl feeders to a machine builder in South India. The project required feeding various connector components—including housings, levers, covers, and seals—with relatively large dimensions of up to 90 mm (L) x 40 mm (W) x 40 mm (H).
The Challenge: Oily Seals and Noisy Plastics While most of the components were made of hard plastic, two of the parts were rubber seals. These seals presented a unique feeding challenge: they were heavily coated in oil, causing them to stick to each other and to the sides of the bowl. Additionally, the hard plastic components generated excessive noise when tumbling against standard bare stainless steel.
The Elscint Solution To solve both issues simultaneously, Elscint applied its popular Elscinthane PU coating to all the bowls, customizing the finish based on the part:
- Rough Texture: Applied to the bowls handling the rubber seals, effectively preventing the oily parts from sticking to the bowl surface and ensuring a consistent feed rate.
- Smooth Finish: Applied to the bowls handling the hard plastic parts, significantly reducing the noise levels during operation.
Equipment Specifications & Design The complete feeding system was designed with space-saving features and high-level functionality. The setup included:
- Bowl Configurations: Four parts utilized the Model 400 drive with cast aluminum bowls, while the remaining two utilized the heavy-duty Model 630 drive with stainless steel bowls.
- Space-Saving Mounting: Each bowl feeder was mounted on a separate single-post stand featuring a (+/-) 100 mm height adjustment and a circular mounting base plate to conserve floor space.
- Acoustic Enclosures: Every unit was fitted with a customized, circular mild steel enclosure (duly powder-coated) topped with a see-through polycarbonate cover for easy monitoring.
- Level Control: A flap-type level controller arrangement was integrated to automatically signal the customer’s system when the parts level in the bowl runs low.
- Linear Tracks: Each system fed into an 800 mm to 1000 mm long linear track for final orientation and transfer.
Successful Delivery The customer visited the Elscint facility for a Factory Acceptance Test (FAT). Thanks to the precise engineering and problem-solving, the inspection was successfully concluded within just half a day, and the equipment was promptly dispatched to the customer’s location.