Development of Vibratory Part Feeder for Material Handling in Manufacturing Automation: A Survey

摘要

In manufacturing automation, material handling plays asignificant role. Material handling is the process of loading,placing or manipulating material. The handling ofmaterials is to be performed efficiently, safely, accuratelyin a timely manner so that the right parts arrive in rightquantities to the right locations, at low cost and withoutdamage. The material handling devices are generallydesigned around standard production machinery andintegrated with specially made feeders. In assembly andprocessing operations, there is a need for the parts to bepresented in a preferred orientation, which is achievedusing part feeders. A perfect example of feeders is vibratoryfeeders. Vibratory feeders are commonly used in industriesfor sorting and orienting parts before assembly.In this paper, a survey of literature regarding design anddevelopment of part feeders is discussed. The survey includessensorless vibratory feeders to vision based flexiblepart feeders.