Articles 

Fasteners for Automation

2011-02-23

Fasteners come in familiar packages. Their dimensions and appearances are so common that no questions are ever raised about changing anything related to them. However, fasteners are used in many automated devices, from feeder bowls to assembly line robotic handlers, and problems occur. There are factors to using fasteners in such equipment that are seldom ever considered. The physical characteristics of the fasteners impact how well they can be adapted to automated assembly techniques. The two main areas of automation in fastener installation assembly are automated feed with some human interaction and robotic handling. In many assembly lines and in sub-assembly work, fasteners are fed to the line by a feeder system rather than having the operator pick up one at a time from a box and install it. The systems vary from vibration bowl machines to complex tube distribution feeders.