Motor Rollers

Roller Sorters have been designed to offer an accurate but economical method to sort good products from defective or bad ones by utilising the product’s biggest diameter. The good or accepted products are then discharged off at the bottom of the rollers into a corresponding operation or customer bin, whilst the defective products are discharged at the end of the rollers. Motor Rollers are typically manufactured using precision ground and hardened steel rollers to offer maximum reliability and durability.

Motor rollers can be useful for the following 

• For feeding and orienting bolt blanks, head bolts or same cold headed parts into any downstream machinery

• For extricating rejected blanks from the process of production

• For sorting small, yet mass produed parts

• For lining up, then separating headed pins, adhesive anchors, head bolts, threaded and turned parts

• For checking the head diameter of any small cold head parts

Motor rollers are used for sorter conveyors that help conveyors move very fast so as to put the goods in the setting position. It can also be used to exclude undersized or oversized materials from the production or sorting process.

• It can also be used to help check the head diameter of headed blanks, pin shaped, or bolt-shaped headed blanks.

• To sort small yet mass-produced products according to their major geometric data,

• To orient and line upturned threaded blanks, headed pins, adhesive anchors and head bolts,

• To check the length of the head diameter, especially for small cold-headed parts,

• for separate and feed parts in the filling, packaging and weighing applications in locations that they have to be counted.

How does a motor roller work?

Typically driven by a three-phase, speed-controlled geared motor in conjunction with a small join chain drive which causes the ground and hardened rollers to move in contrasting directions. The spring-loaded tensioning lever ensures that the tension of the drive chain remains unchanging regardless of the varying sorting gaps. Generally, a roller sorter comes in two varying types:

You get a basic version that is equipped with 2 adjusting spindles suitable for a parallel adjustment of any rollers in order to obtain a uniform width in regards to the sorting gap. This helps to offer a limited possibility of adjusting a sorting gap that is shaped like a wedge between the rollers.

Certain parts that slip through the gap can fall into outlet funnels which are mounted underneath the roller sorter. They are therefore extricated from the overall production process. Something such as a frequency inverter can allow for an markedly variable adjustment of this roller speed. For particular bolt types, there are a few rollers that come equipped with a massive spiral shaped, pitch groove alongside the full length of the roller in order to ensure the transport of the bolts from one roller to another.

In order to enhance the inspection, orientation and sorting process, especially if there are long shaft bolts or the products come in large quantities, it is plausible to install a counter rotating brush, which is driven independently by a variable speed motor. This brush is mounted just above the rollers, and that enables it to be seamlessly adjusted to the height of the bolt head as well as the sorting gap’s width. Thanks to its spring steel or nylon bristles, it can throw or push back the bolts that lie lengthways on the rollers till they are correctly inserted into the gap available between the rollers.

The insertion and sorting process can also be manipulated by having the entire roller sorter placed in an inclined position. It is for this purpose that the roller sorter tends to come equipped with clamping plates. These clamping plates can be attached to the frame in order to allow the roller sorter to be adjusted to a maximum inclined position of about 15°.

Adhesive anchors, long bolt planks, headed pins and more might need to be oriented before they can be fed onto a roller sorter. To aid this, there are numerous trough or V shaped vibratory feeders which are also known as linear vibrators that are capable of having randomly oriented blanks into a perfect longitudinal position that feeds that parts to the rollers.

Once the thread rollers, pointing, bolt chamfering and similar machines need exact placement of the products, there are guide rails to be inserted at the inlets of the corresponding machines. These roller sorters have to be precisely aligned with the guide rails. This typically depends on the diameter or the blank shaft as well as the blank length. This ensures the roller sorter’s outlet can be adjusted either horizontally or vertically to the guide rails.

In order to accomplish this, there is a height adjustable cross slide table, included in the customer features. This feature permits limitless tuning in 3 directions.

Growth trend of plant automation, production line and assembly line

The philosophy behind mass production typically involves line balancing, particularly in an assembly of interchangeable or identical components or parts implemented into the final product, especially at various stages in numerous diverging workstations. Thanks to the improvement provided by knowledge and development, line balancing procedures can be refined and applied in a much more streamlined manner.  Task allocation of each worker was achieved by assembly line balancing to increase assembly efficiency and productivity. In early times assembly lines were used in the high-level production of a single product.  Stations are typically placed on several areas all over the assmebly line. These stations tend to be located in a particulatr order on the assembly line. Parts are then able to move across these stations to be processed using transportation systems such as automatic guided vehicles or conveyor belts. Ever since Henry Ford, reimagined the assembly line, the design and requirements of the assembly line production system have been transformed. Customers always have diversified demand. Production organisations have developed and the modern term by which mass customisation is known as today was introduced. When it comes to assembly lines, certain work pieces get moved from one assembly line station to the next to be processed. The typical time it takes for one station to process this is known as the type cycle. An issue of optimally distributing the workload across every work station on the assembly line in line with certain objectives is known as the problem of assembly line balancing.

In the world today, any production process being used does not remain the same for too long. This is down to the continuous evolution of technological advancements and updates in the plant operational process. These updates tend to be a result of strict technology automation integrated into the production processes. Technology associated with plant automation has seen significant signs of progress and that has meant that stagnancy or a slowdown has never been factored into the developments due to outside factors such as market downturns.

For one ethernet use continues to increase the number of protocols added to plant motion, energy, and safety. The increasing development lies with controllers that come with a standard IP/TCP connection in conjunction with industrial Ethernet protocol connections which can be used to directly communicate information to a business’s enterprise system. Assembly lines are generally traditional, but they still remain an attractive method of large and mass scale series production. Ever since the time of trailblazers such as Henry Ford, numerous developments have taken place to transform assembly lines from stricly straight and paced single model lines to ones that are much more flexible systems.

Research on assembly line balancing has originally been concentrated on problems that had a few restricting assumptions. It was necessary to create a whole new approach in a mixed model U shaped lines. The entire process was created to handle both sequencing and balancing issues. The massive utilisation of U shaped lines can be said to be an integral element in the just in time process production. 

Assembly lines can be categorized into two types based on the work flow features. These tend to include unpaced and paced assembly lines. When it comes to paced assembly lines, every station is presumed to have a particular yet similar cycle time and when the end of that cycle time is reached, each station then moves its products onto the next station once the tasks have been finished. There are some stations along the assembly line that might finish the tasks assigned to them ahead of the cycle time, however, these parts still have to wait as they are not allowed to move on to the next station till the cycle time has elapsed. Typically, in such assembling lines, you get a conveyor belt that moves from one station to another in order to move the finished parts up the stations. This conveyor can either be moved continuously or periodically. In the former case, it tends to have a sole fixed speed which is decided by the system's cycle time.

Wireless applications also continue to expand, thanks to two massive developments. The WIA-PA which is a Chinese industrial sensor standard has been shown to outperform the currently used ISA100 and WirelessHART systems. The second advancement is the Wireless Sensor Actuator Network or WSAN, which has been specified as a wireless network solution for discrete devices such as light barriers, proximity sensors, pilot devices, I/O modules, hydraulic and pneumatic actuators.

Virtualisation has to be embraced by all users in a plant operation due to the fact that it is quite seamless to deploy, the performance increase is notable, and it can invariably yield in large savings. Mobile operator devices such as smartphones have been co-opted into the smart and remote operation of the plant. The adaptation of tablet computers has significantly increased over the years. 

Remote monitoring has also been growing given the demand for experts in certain aspects of plant operations. Some organisations have launched various ROM or Remote Operations Management solutions which can help offer a sole integrated infrastructure which has been specifically built for process automation. Mobile phone technology has also been utilised in order to help implement remote monitoring given that it is easily available and seamless to deploy.

Assembly lines are typically grouped into 3 varying categories based on their product characteristics, such as a single model, multi model and mixed model assembly lines. In terms of a single model aseembly line, a massie quantity of just one type of product is assembled. As a result of just one product being assembled, the assembly process can be termed as specialised. Additionally, in single model assembly lines, you get an increased possibility of learning the effects of task time by repeating the same operations. This can lead to a gradual rise in efficiency of the assembly process. Furthermore, automation for these assemblies can be quite easy and effective.It can help to lower the assembly operation time typically found in single model assembly lines.

Information security, synergy and leveraging trends

The information leverage works to the extent that suppliers and users can go beyond software dashboards in order to utilise the available computing power to develop actionable information, and advanced control in certain cases. Another breakthrough in plant automation is the synergy found in information and this began with the integration of workflow software between automation and enterprise systems. All of this happens while the security of all of this information and automation is conducted by information security systems. Each task demands a specific equipment or tool. This equipment has to be available in all the parallel workstations of the particular stage which the task was assigned to. The objective would be to find an assignment of tasks at those stages to better minimise the station equipment and opening costs.

Plants in today’s world are now utilising integrated software solutions, however, the adoption rate is still quite low due to the fact that there hasn’t yet been a fully integrated and completely cohesive enterprise control system released to the world. Plant operations have been simulated to take advantage of equipment setups and generations which have then resulted in increased optimisation. Since 2012, plants have increasingly used simulations as they provide the ability to test a system or plant before beginning. Additionally, set up costs associated with the simulation are drastically reduced in all ramifications. Balancing of mixed-model two-sided assembly lines is yet to be fully utilised process. 

Raw Materials Optimization is a reasonably new area of interest in which only a few numbers of the organisation are leveraging. This philosophy is an advanced optimisation of materials in order to increase efficiency. The process helps to boost competitive advantage for numerous operational processes.

Diagnostics and Prognostics can be defined as the plant process performance forecasting and detection techniques when it comes to plant automation. In modern times, plants depend on sensors for temperature or vibration in order to monitor the process or detect anything that is out of place. Prognostics, on the other hand, has almost superseded diagnostics thanks to its predictive intelligence. Therefore, plant tools are able to determine when a maintenance issue arises or if a replacement part needs to be ordered in advance before the process is hampered by breakdowns and any other difficulty. A study researched how discrete optimisation which incorporates ergonomic risks into the entire balancing of the assembling line. When it comes to manufacturing, being able to control ergonomic risks, particularly at manual workplaces is an important factor which is typically commanded not only by legislation but care for the workers' health and any economic considerations. In an assembly line, it has been highlighted that even if the most ergonomical risk estimations are taken into account, they still can be seamlessly integrated into assembly line balancing techniques with little to no added computational costs.

Continuous Data Exchange has to do with total operations control and takes place in any step of the plant operation and is not determined by the operator’s locations. This process is typically equipped with greater emphasis on security, particularly in the control systems and that is why the plants become part of the extended networks. In regards to the tuner assembly line, production tools, equipment, the production process and the number of operators are significant factors that influence productivity when the line balancing method is taken into account. This process takes advantage of simulations of the line balancing method to cut down the likelihood of line unbalancing, moving the workforce, in relation to idle time, getting rid of bottlenecks, whilst still working to maintain and improve upon productivity.

Cloud computing plays an integral part in plant automation thanks to the recent emotional and intellectual breakthroughs. The ability for plants to share data in a network of suppliers and customers has helped streamline efficiency and the simplification of the entire plant process. It is for this reason that plant technology is available on the cloud.

Energy-efficient equipment which are the drives and motors also saw technological advancement in regard to reducing energy consumption. Even tools such as clever combustion control, wireless steam trap monitors are not left out of becoming energy efficient. This sophisticated approach in machine helps to save energy by leveraging the regenerative force required to transfer energy created from the machine’s hydraulics and drives in order to lower energy consumption.

The future

Almost every automation solution comes with a wiring system and there are even some that offer software conversion programs in order to move plants from old or obsolete systems to newer ones, whilst preserving the sensor wiring being used. There is quite a lot of value to be seen in extricating a plant’s process from older solutions onto newer ones with increased functionality. Additionally, software addons can be implemented into older systems to provide features such as advanced controls, assets management, and many other functions. It is for this reason why gateways become extremely popular, in regard to newer sensors, controllers, and wireless sensors.

Specifications of a motor roller

The motor roller has a response speed of 0.03 seconds. This means that it can suitably work effectively with a whole sorter. The speed range is anything from 30 to 3,000 revs per minute. The roller form can be suitably customised to suit the needs of the users. This means that anything from a single-chain wheel, multi-wedge, o-belt, and more can be used.

The roller length can also be customised according to the requirements of the users. Anything from 300 mm to 1,200 mm. accurate operation and control are essential for automatic sorter carriers and AGV belt modules.

The direct-drive motor rollers come with sensitive reaction speed and high RMs which enable them to achieve these functions. Typically, there are two types, the first is a permanent magnet BLDC motor roller, while the second is a permanent magnet servo motor roller which can be suited to varying customers’ requirements. Concurrently, 50 mm diameter motor rollers can further the volume and weight of the automatic sorter and the AGV belt module, in order to ensure the entire equipment operation is much more effective, energy-saving and lightweight.

Two Applications of Motor Roller for Sorter

For Light Load

Motor Type: Permanent Magnet Servo Motor

• OD: 50mm 

• Input Voltage: DC 48±10%V 

• Speed Range: 300rpm-750rpm 

• Power: 300W 

• Duty: S2-25% 

Advantages: 

• High control precision and quick response. 

• Acceleration and deceleration can be adjusted. 

• Upload and download parcels smoothly.

• Suitable for 0-15kg parcel load. 

For Heavy Load

Motor Type: Permanent Magnet Servo Motor

• OD: 50mm / 67mm

• Input Voltage: DC 48±10%V

• Speed Range: 300rpm-750rpm

• Power: 400W

• Duty: S2-25%

Advantages:

• High control precision and quick response.

• Acceleration and deceleration can be adjusted.

• Upload and download parcels smoothly.

• Suitable for 0-40kg parcel load.