This AE Solutions project included the automation of an automobile rocker arm assembly and test facility. The system included an 8-position dial index machine; automatic loaders and unloaders with transport systems; assembly machine with an 8-position over-and-under linear transfer mechanism with 20 nests; pick-and-place mechanisms; automated testing capability, robotic shipping / packing and complete testing data acquisition and display.
This equipment assembled, tested, and packed a rocker arm in less than 4 seconds.

AE Solutions designed this conveying system to provide front-back orientation, inkjet marking and packing for thrust bearing assemblies ranging from ¾” to 4”. It operated at a speed of 150 bearing assemblies per minute

This AE Solutions designed equipment gathered finger followers from automatic assembly equipment, placed them in returnable shipping trays, and applied a vaporized rust inhibitor. The trays were transported via conveyor system to a robotic work cell. A material-handling robot stacked the trays onto shipping pallets, and then the pallets were delivered to a staging area for removal by a forklift truck. This equipment processed finger follower assemblies at a rate of 150 assemblies per minute.

AE Solutions designed this system to provide automatic delivery of required household refrigerator chassis to the main assembly line based on model designation requirement. Each palletized chassis is inventoried in the 100-unit system using barcode tracking. A PLC tracked the chassis style and its location and implemented its delivery to the main assembly line upon demand.

AE Solutions provide this stainless steel high-pressure pump and filtering system that was designed to remove metal chips, cutting oil, and miscellaneous particles from hydraulic valves prior to their assembly with close fitting valve spools. The system accommodated 4 valve bodies at a time. The bodies were loaded onto fixtures that clamped the bodies tightly to prevent leakage during the high pressure washing cycle.

AE Solutions designed this system to assemble fuel hoses to the barbed fittings on fuel shut-off valves and performed leak and flow tests on the assembly. The leak test pressurized the fuel shut-off valve assembly and tested the assembly for leakage, using sensitive equipment to detect the pressure decay over a precise period of time. The flow test utilized compressed air to test the functionality of a check valve assembly that was imbedded in the assembly. The assembly and test rate for this system was 18 seconds.

This AE Solutions custom fixture allowed the laser welder to perform a seamless weld around the top of the lid of an aluminum can that was the housing for the capacitor for the defibrillator. After manual loading of the can and the lid, a custom designed collet mechanism squeezed the sides of the can uniformly and held the lid tightly onto the can for the welding process.

This robotic pick-and-place system was designed by AE Solutions to place 58 plungers per minute into honeycombed baskets and then move the full baskets to an unload area while positioning an empty basket for filling. The system included automatic loading of the double o-Ring conveyer feed belt.

AE Solutions designed this system using a 6-position dial indexing nut swage machine to attach a mounting nut to a steering yoke. After manual loading of a steering yoke, fiber optic scanning verified that the proper type was present before a vibratory bowl feeder and a pick-and-place mechanism oriented and positioned the nut for swaging by the air-over-oil hydraulic ram. A deflection measurement automatically determined a good/bad sort of the finished assembly.This machine produced 14 assemblies per minute.

AE Solutions designed this system to assemble a 5/8” diameter needle bearing was on an 8-position dial index machine. At position 1, a vibratory bowl was used to orient and feed a bearing inner sleeve. A pick-and-place mechanism placed the sleeve into a nest on the dial. At positions 2 & 3, a custom-designed, high-speed pneumatic feeder was used to orient and feed needle rollers and a roller insertion mechanism placed 33 of the rollers around the bearing inner sleeve. At position 4, an inspection camera was used to count the number of rollers. If any rollers were missing, all the rollers and the sleeve were sucked out of the nest at position 5. At position 6, the bearing outer cup was placed on the nest and at position 7 the assembled needle bearing was removed from the dial by a pick-and-place mechanism. The machine assembled needle bearings at a rate of 18 per minute.

AE Solutions automated the muffler-forming machine that requires a 42” x 60” sheet of 14 ga. steel be placed in a forming die. This automatic sheet metal loader removed one sheet of metal from the top of a stack and placed it in the forming die. The loader singulated each sheet and compensated for the diminishing stack height. The sheet metal loader operated at a rate of 10 sheets per minute

After manual loading, this AE Solutions designed machine automated the application of compressed air to test for valve body porosity using pressure decay/flow measurement instruments. Functionality was verified by actuation of the pressure relief plunger while again measuring the pressure decay and flow of the air.
The machine tested valves at a rate of 4 per minute.

AE Solutions designed this machine to perform an automatic gauging and sorting operation on the I.D. of the bearing rollers. The gauging was performed with the O.D. of the bearing pressed into a gauge block (to simulate actual application conditions) based on a 4-position dial index format. Bearing assemblies were delivered to the automatic bore gauging machine on a conveyor, positioned by a pick-and-place mechanism into a gauge block nest where a servo-driven screw press pressed the bearing into the gauge block nest. Sensors detected the engagement distance of the gauge to determine a good or bad I.D. of the rollers. The roller bearing was pressed out of the gauge block nest by a second servo-driven screw press and the bearing sorted based on input from the sensors at the gauging station into one of 3 categories; undersized, oversized, or good.

AE Solutions designed this machine to automatically assemble thrust bearings ranging in size from 1” O.D. to 3½” O.D. Each thrust bearing assembly consists of one inner retainer, one outer retainer and any number of rollers, which can vary in diameter and length. Each roller had to be placed within a pocket on the outer retainer. A mating inner retainer was placed over the rollers and outer retainer. Concentric flanges on the inner and outer retainers were rolled together to develop a mechanical joint. An orbital forming mechanism was used to develop the joint. The machine format employed a 12-position dial index. Two vibratory bowls were used to orient and feed the inner and outer retainers. Pick-and-place mechanisms loaded the retainers into nests attached to the dial. Custom designed nest tooling was provided for each variety of thrust bearing. The nest tooling employed quick-change features to minimize machine set-up time. A high-speed pneumatic feeder bowl was designed to orient and feed rollers and a unique method of loading the rollers into the nest tooling was developed for these machines. A camera was used to inspect the bearing assembly for missing rollers or for incomplete roll forming and bad assemblies were removed from the nest at this station. The completed bearing assembly was tested for functionality by spinning the thrust bearing assembly with a weight placed on top. The thrust bearing was lifted out of the nest while the test was performed. Sensors monitored the RPM of the thrust bearing and the spin time during the test. These parameters determined the performance of the thrust bearing. The thrust bearing was removed from the nest and dropped into a sorting chute that placed them into a good or bad container, based on the results of the test performance data. This machine could assemble and test a 2” O.D. thrust bearing in 3 seconds.

AE Solutions designed this equipment to load metal stampings onto the conveyor belt of a gas-fired heat-treating furnace. The stampings were .010” thick and ranged in diameter from 1” to 4”. These thin metal stampings were easily bent and therefore required a mechanism that would not damage them while placing them on the furnace belt without touching one another. A vibratory bowl was used to orient and feed the stampings and a pick-and-place mechanism was designed that would separate and place 6 stampings across the width of the furnace belt. The loading rate was synchronized with the (adjustable) speed of the furnace belt.

This AE Solutions designed system elevates and transports disposable cameras from storage hoppers located on floor level, to a height of 10 Ft., then to packaging equipment at the discharge end, 60 Ft. away. At the discharge end, the cameras are dropped into vertical chutes that feed the packaging equipment. The system has sensors to control the levels of cameras in the vertical chutes and sensors at the input end to control the number of cameras in the storage hoppers. The system was designed to deliver 120 cameras per minute.

AE Solutions designed this machine based on an 8-position dial index format that uses a 4-axis robot to load and unload the machine. Fuel injector barrels are presented to this machine in 14” square honeycomb baskets. The baskets are queued on a conveyor belt and fed to the machine upon demand. At the first position on the dial, the robot removes a barrel from the basket and positions it above a camera. Information from the camera instructs the robot to orient the barrel so the correct (radial) orientation is obtained, before placing the barrel in a nest on the dial. At the next position, custom designed leak test tooling and a Cosmo Leak Test Instrument test the barrel for porosity and flow characteristics. At the next position, a spherical radius on the barrel is measured. A spherical probe, attached to an LVDT is used to measure the depth and location of the spherical radius. At the next position, a pick-and-place mechanism is used to remove bad barrels from the dial and place them on an exit conveyor. At the final position, the robot removes good barrels from the dial and places them back into the baskets.

AE Solutions designed this machine to produc a 1/8” wide slit in a die cast aluminum router housing. A custom designed fixture was used to accurately position the housing. A motor-driven arbor and saw blade was mounted on a hydraulically actuated slide mechanism. A coolant recirculation pump and filter was used to wash metal chips off of the housing and to remove chips from the coolant during sawing. Electrically interlocked machine guards and splash shields were employed to prevent operator injury and to contain coolant while the machine was operating.

AE Solutions designed this machine to automatically measure the thickness of thrust washers, paint a thickness code on the edge of the washer, and place the washers into packaging tubes. The thrust washers were 1½” diameter and .100” nominal thickness. A vibratory bowl was used to orient and feed the washers onto a track where a Keyocera Laser Micrometer measured the thickness of the washer, with an accuracy of .00005”. Washers that meet the thickness requirement are placed onto vertical spindles that were attached to a 6-position dial index mechanism that had one 180-washer spindle located at each position. When a spindle was full, the dial rotated it to a marking position where an inkjet marking head sprayed a color-coded paint stripe down the edge of the vertical stack of washers. The dial rotated the stack of washers to the next position where a plastic packaging tube, previously placed in a queue by an operator, would be removed from the queue by a pick-and-place mechanism and dropped over the stack of washers. The dial indexed to the next position and the (filled) packaging tube was removed from the dial by a pick-and-place mechanism. This machine could measure, mark, and fill a packaging tube with 180 washers every 90 seconds.

AE Solutions designed this equipment to remove roller rocker arms from an automatic assembly machine and place them into 7” x 7” x 12” corrugated boxes. A cam-operated, motor-driven pick-and-place mechanism, equipped with pneumatic grippers, was used to remove each rocker arm from a nest on the assembly machine and drop it onto a conveyor that transported them to the box loading mechanism. Two corrugated boxes are manually placed side-by-side. Rocker arms, delivered by the conveyor, slide down a swing chute and into one of the boxes. When the box is filled, the chute swung into position over the empty box. An operator removes the full box and replaces it with an empty box.

This device was designed by AE Solutions to separate pre-scored 2” x 4” ceramic capacitor wafers into separate capacitor chips. The device used a flexible membrane that could be flexed around a curved radius. Wafers are placed on the membrane and the edges of the membrane are pulled around the curved radius by two air cylinders, causing the wafer to fracture along the pre-scored lines. The membrane uses a special adhesive to hold the separated chips in position while they were individually tested by a capacitor testing machine. The machine marked bad chips with ink for later identification. A release fixture was used to remove the good chips from the membrane while the bad chips remained on the membrane. The device increased the efficiency of capacitor testing.

This component (referred to as an Oil Dribbler) is used in Automatic Transmissions to dribble oil onto thrust bearings. The dribbler is a 3” diameter x ½” high stamped steel ring that is installed in a precision bored hole in the transmission. AE Solutions designed this machine to produce three dimples on the O.D. of the dribbler that are used to retain the dribbler in the bored hole. The dribblers are oriented and fed to the machine by a vibratory bowl. A three-position pick-and-place transfer mechanism, equipped with grippers, loads the dribbler into a precision die that produced the dimples. After dimpling, a transfer mechanism moves the dribbler to a measuring gauge where the O.D. of the dimples is measured using a tapered gauge ring and an LVDT. After measuring, the transfer mechanism moves the dribbler to a three-position sorting chute. Dribblers with acceptable dimple measurements went into a good box, dribblers with undersized dimples were recycled thru the machine, and dribblers with oversized dimples went into a scrap box.

Fabricated steel refrigerator doors are automatically welded on a 12 Ft. diameter, 8-position dial index machine. Prior to welding, burnishing of the surfaces to be welded is required to insure a good weld. The AE Solutions designed machine employs two 8” diameter motorized wire wheels that are mounted on a two-axis linear slide mechanism that is actuated by pneumatic cylinders and configured to follow the weld-seam pattern on the refrigerator door. As the slides move, the rotating wire wheels burnish the weld-seams.

This machine was designed by AE Solutions to manufacture and test the positive (+) connector on size AA, C, and D size batteries. Connectors on these batteries employ a vent valve design that allows gas to escape while the battery is being recharged. The connector has three components that are assembled together, a base, a cup, and a rubber disk. The rubber disk is placed inside the cup, and then the base and cup are resistance-welded together. During recharging, gas pressure flows through a hole in the base, deflecting the rubber disc, and escaping under a gap between the base and cup. When the battery is fully charged, gas pressure drops and the rubber disc re-seals the battery. The machine is based on a 12-position dial index format. It is a cam- operated machine, driven by a single motor. Each of the three components are oriented and fed by vibratory feeders. A tooling change is used on the feeders and the dial to accommodate each of the component sizes. Cam-driven pick-and-place mechanisms are used to load the components into nests on the dial. A custom-designed, cam-operated resistance welder squeezes the components together, compressing the rubber disk, while welding the base and cup together. During the welding cycle, electrical resistance through the welded joint is measured, using a weld monitor, to determine the quality of the weld. The welded connector requires a gap of .005” between the base and cup to allow the gas to escape during recharging of the battery. The height of the gap was automatically measured following the welding operation. The machine functionally tests each assembly to insure that gas will escape during recharging. The test is performed with the assembly sandwiched between an upper and lower cup that enclosed the assembly. High-pressure nitrogen gas is forced into the assembly through the bottom of the base; a pressure transducer is used to measure the pressure of the gas escaping from under the cup. Completed assemblies were ejected from the nest by compressed air. Good and bad assemblies were ejected at separate positions. The Machine assembled and tested at a rate of 72 Connectors per minute.

This Machine was designed by AE Solutions to assemble an upper and lower hedge clipper blade with a bolt and nut. An operator placed both blades into a fixture with a common, retractable pilot pin that aligned the boltholes in each blade concentrically. A bolt and nut are fed to the machine by vibratory feeders where two pneumatic nut runners, mounted on linear slides, picked a bolt and nut from the feeder bowls. The bolt is screwed into one of the blades from the top of the hedge clipper and the nut was screwed onto the bolt from the bottom with precise control of the torque to provide the optimum cutting action of the blades. The machine assembled 10 hedge clippers every minute.

This machine was designed by AE Solutions to assemble needle rollers into a split, plastic roller cage, place the cage over a flanged inner bearing race, and ultrasonically weld the ends of the roller cage together. The machine was based on a 6-position dial index format. A vibratory bowl was used to orient and feed the flanged inner bearing race to a pick-and-place mechanism that loads the race into a nest at position 1 on the dial. At position 3 on the dial, an operator places the plastic roller cage onto a rotating mandrill. Needle rollers are supplied to the machine by a custom-designed pneumatic feeder. A tube delivers the needle rollers to an insertion-head mechanism that aligns slots in the roller cage with each needle roller. As the roller cage rotates beneath the insertion head, needle rollers are pressed into slots in the cage. An operator removes the cage/needle roller assembly from the mandrill and places it over the flanged inner bearing race at position 4 on the dial. An ultrasonic welder is used to weld the ends of the plastic roller cage together at position 5 on the dial. The welder monitors each weld and determines the quality of the weld joint. At position 6, a pick-and-place mechanism removes the assembled bearing and drops it into a sorting chute. Based on the quality of the welded joint, the sorting chute places the bearing assembly into a good or bad box. The machine produces 14 assemblies a minute.