Integration of Dispensing Robots

When a dis­pens­ing process is auto­mat­ed, pro­duc­tiv­i­ty and reli­a­bil­i­ty will increase. Both batch and in-line flow process­es can be pro­grammed with auto­mat­ed dis­pense sys­tems using either a bench­top or SCARA robot. How­ev­er, robots must be imple­ment­ed cor­rect­ly for man­u­fac­tur­ers to watch their robots reach their full poten­tial. As a robot is inte­grat­ed into a dis­pens­ing line, regard­less of whether the robot­ic dis­pens­ing is being imple­ment­ed into an exist­ing or brand new line, man­u­al work­er tasks must be trans­lat­ed into an auto­mat­ed set­ting. The man­u­fac­tur­er needs to deter­mine what type of dis­penser he will use and the type of robot that will con­trol the dispensing.

Since impre­cise shot size and excess flow are prob­lems relat­ed to a man­u­al or semi-auto­mat­ed dis­penser, man­u­fac­tur­ers can use pre­ci­sion diaphragm or pos­i­tive-dis­place­ment valves to con­trol dis­pens­ing instead. Diaphragm valves in par­tic­u­lar are com­pat­i­ble with robot­ic appli­ca­tions due to pre­cise shut­off fea­tures. Pos­i­tive dis­place­ment sys­tems are typ­i­cal­ly more expen­sive but guar­an­tee con­sis­tent shot volumes.

To deter­mine which type of robot should be used for the auto­mat­ed dis­pens­ing process, the man­u­fac­tur­er should con­sid­er the num­ber of axes, the type of process flow, speed, bud­get, part place­ment and size.

For appli­ca­tions like med­ical tube bond­ing or nee­dle assem­blies that require dis­pens­ing a sin­gle dot onto a part, a one-axis robot might be ide­al. The robot locates to the same dis­pense posi­tion each time. For dis­pens­ing adhe­sive or tack­ing, a robot with two axes that moves up and down and side to side increas­es speed and accu­ra­cy in these basic straight pat­terns. A three-axis robot adds the front to back motion. Gner­al­ly, most assem­blies will require a three-axis sys­tem. Adding four, five, or six axes give the robot capa­bil­i­ty for a joint­ed arm and more rotation. 

With all of these options, the man­u­fac­tur­er should deter­mine how many axes will best suit the oper­a­tion, bear­ing in mind the price and chal­lenge of pro­gram­ming increas­es with each added axis. To deter­mine the size of robot nec­es­sary, the num­ber of parts that can fit in the work enve­lope while mak­ing sure the pay­load spec­i­fi­ca­tions of the tool head are not sur­passed should be deduced.

Once the dis­pens­ing sys­tem has been assem­bled, pro­gram­ming the robot is the last task to occur. Cre­at­ing an effi­cient dis­pens­ing path might be a chal­lenge, so atten­tion should be paid to the train­ing from the equip­ment manufacturer. 

Robots​.com can help you pick the right dis­pens­ing robot for your busi­ness. We have both new and recon­di­tioned robots that can be used for this appli­ca­tion to give our cus­tomers the most options pos­si­ble. If you would like to talk to one of our sales reps, con­tact us here or call 877−762−6881.