The Pick and Place unit is an accessory for mechanical or other presses for loading flat blanks in tools. The unit consists of a magazine into which flat parts (post blanking) are loaded and stacked for secondary operations like bending, lancing etc. A single part escapement mechanism removes only one blank at a time and brings it under the pickup arm of the Pick and Place unit. From here, the blank is picked up and transferred into the tool along a straight axis covering approximately 250mm. The pickup is either by vacuum cup/s or by a pneumatic gripper. A special design consideration of the pickup arm enables the opening or stroke requirement of the press to be not more than 50 mm. After the pressworking operation, the part is ejected by air.
The unit is suitable for both mechanical key operated or clutch type presses.
The advantages are as follows:
- Improvement in productivity: The unit can work continuously between 20 - 24 strokes per minute (SPM), depending on the speed of the press. The press operates in single cycle mode with ram actuation controlled by the unit’s micro PLC (Programmable Logic Controller). It is to be noted that manual loading of components in the tool generally works between 10 – 15 SPM. Hence, a productivity improvement between 1.5 – 2.0 times can be expected.
- Operational safety: Many accidents happen due to human or machine error during manual loading of blanks in tool. This is completely avoided with this unit.
Additionally, a unique Double part sensing mechanism prevents the press from actuation if the previous part is not removed / ejected from the tool.
- Ease of operation: The operator work content is de-skilled and fatigue is significantly reduced. He has to simply load the parts in the vertical magazine. Hence, apart from improvement in the SPM, an overall increase in the utilization of the press can also be expected.
