This machine is inspecting 100% (360 degrees) of a product for surface defects and impurities. This is being done by capturing the part on a transparent pin that will not impede vision inspection.

Some examples of successful continuous motion applications for medical device packaging:

• Irregular shapes such as complex curves and parts that only travel in a straight line. These are best dealt with in the orientation of the parts to the assembly machine. Once the parts are presented by the feed system and are in the machine, the parts can be mechanically repositioned or even placed on a carrier to create ideal control features from the carrier to the part and from the carrier to the machine.

• Tacky surface parts such as silicone. Best dealt with by keeping tooling centerlines as close as possible to part spacing, and by designing tooling geometry so that parts flow from feed system to the machine at the most consistent speed. The goal is to minimize the percentage of piece-part-speed variation. This will minimize the effect of tacky surface parts. Low-friction tooling coatings are also utilized.

• Fluids that must be applied to a part (e.g. adhesives and solvents used as bonding agents). These can applied either by dispensing from individual nozzles on each station or by transfer of fluid from reservoir to tooling tip.

• Processes involving heat to modify the part or transfer another material. Continuous motion because the continuous motion technology allows more time for the operation than an indexing application whose cycle time would be dictated.

Future of continuous motion

The need for greater reliability and lower labor costs have driven demand for increasingly sophisticated, yet easy-to-use automated continuous motion assembly systems.

As a result, advanced controls— designed to enable a small labor force with minimum skills to operate machinery flawlessly and consistently— have become a major focal point of technical development in the industry.

In general, as demands increase for faster speeds and greater quality, automated continuous motion systems offer the potential to meet ever more stringent requirements in the coming years.