Evansville, Indiana – Evana Automation Specialists, a leading Systems Integrator and builder of custom, automated assembly and test systems, recently received a contract to provide a robotic material handling system for a leading medical device manufacturer. The Evana solution will transport wire shaping fixtures to heat-treating furnaces, a cooling quench, and then to the final assembly line.
The process involves wire-tying operators loading the wire shaping fixtures into part nests, which hold multiple fixtures. A robot will pick up the nest and load it into one of several furnaces. The robot will then take the next heat-treated part nest from the furnace and place it into a cooling quench. Part sensors are used to ensure that all fixtures are present before entering the furnace, as well as when the fixtures are removed from the furnace. The previously quenched nest will be transported, via robot, to a conveyor that will feed the fixtures to an operator. From there, the nest and fixtures are returned to the wrapping operators on a flat belt conveyor for final assembly.
The robotic material handling system is scheduled for a Jan. 2015 delivery.
“Evana’s robotic material handling system will reduce labor and increase safety in a potentially hazardous environment,” said Randy Wire, general manager of Evana Automation Specialists. “This is one of multiple projects that Evana has underway for this leading medical device manufacturer.”
Source: Evana Automation Specialists