AUTOMATING SWAB MANUFACTURE

摘要

A solution based around an Omron SCARA robot has enabled manufacturing automation specialist, Secure Technologies, to eliminate tedious manual handling in the manufacturing process for water testing swabs. Manufactured by one of the world's leading healthcare suppliers, the swabs resemble cotton buds with a specially formed end. After they emerge from the production line, they have to undergo further processing before they are ready for despatch. First they are dipped into a liquid reagent, and then allowed to dry for several hours. After the drying process is complete, each swab is placed in its own test tube. The finished products are supplied to end users as a swab in a test tube, which means that they are ready for immediate use without the need for additional equipment or apparatus. Until recently, the swabs emerging from the production line were collected in a container from which they were manually removed and placed into trays with 500 compartments. The trays were then dipped and transferred to the drying cabinet. After drying, the swabs were manually unloaded from the trays, and placed in the test tubes. These manual processes were not only time consuming, but also repetitive and tedious.