Is your product suitable for automated production lines?

Recently, I have received many requests from customers to convert their existing manual production lines into automated production lines. However, after evaluation by the Changjiu Mechanical Engineering Department, I suggest that some customers abandon the idea of transforming and investing in automated production lines. Through collecting information and suggestions from the Changjiu Mechanical Engineering Department, I have specifically listed the investment requirements for automated production lines as follows for reference only:

1、 What is an automated production line

The production line is the route that the product production process passes through, that is, the route formed by a series of production activities such as processing, transportation, assembly, inspection, etc., starting from the entry of raw materials into the production site. Narrowly defined production lines are organized according to the principle of objects, and are a form of production organization that completes the product process. That is, according to the principle of product specialization, they are equipped with various equipment and workers of various types required to produce a certain product (parts, components), responsible for completing all the manufacturing work of a certain product (parts, components), and processing the same labor object with different processes.

2、 General structure of automation equipment:

Automation equipment typically consists of four systems:

1. Drive system: refers to the power source of automation equipment. Such as electric drive, hydraulic drive, pneumatic drive, etc;

2. Transmission system: Refers to the transmission of equipment power to various executing or auxiliary mechanisms to complete the specified action process. For example, chain drive, pulley drive: friction drive, gear drive, or commonly used wire rope drive for elevators and lifting platforms;

3. Execution mechanism: It is a system that realizes automated and auxiliary operations. Such as electric actuators, pneumatic actuators, hydraulic actuators, etc;

4. Control system: It refers to the control of the drive system, transmission system, and execution mechanism of automation equipment, which allocates motion to each execution mechanism to coordinate their actions in time and sequence, thereby realizing the process functions of automation equipment and completing automated production.

（2） Automated control system:

The control system can be divided into two categories based on the sequence of actions: timing control and stroke control systems.

1. Timing control:

A timing control system refers to a control system that issues instructions in chronological order for operation;

The timing control system has the following advantages and disadvantages:

(1) Advantages: It can complete any complex work cycle and adjust it normally, without mutual interference among various executing mechanisms. Even if the distribution shaft rotates unevenly, it will not affect the sequence of each action, ensuring strict and reliable completion of the work cycle within the specified time, especially suitable for high-speed automation equipment.

(2) Disadvantages: Poor flexibility and lack of devices to detect the completion of actuator actions, making it unsafe.

2. Travel control system:

It is a control system that controls the next action based on a travel signal from one action to a specified position.

Advantages and disadvantages of travel control system:

(1) Advantages: Control in a "command answer execute command" manner, safe and reliable;

(2) Disadvantage: The action cycle from output to feedback to giving the next command is long, and when the first action is not completed, the next action cannot start. It is not suitable for high-speed automation equipment.

（3） Definition, Characteristics, and Applications of Automated Production Lines

People refer to the production system with independent control devices formed by linking specialized automation equipment and auxiliary equipment using workpiece storage and transmission devices according to the product processing process as an automatic production line.

Automated production lines are suitable for the production of the following products:

1) Products that are finalized, have a large batch size, and have a certain production cycle; For example, automatic packaging machine production lines and non-standard production lines

2) The structure of the product is convenient for transmission, automatic loading and unloading, positioning and clamping, automatic processing, assembly, and testing

3) The product structure is relatively complex, there are many processing steps, and the process route is too long, resulting in too many designed automation equipment subsystems, too complex structure, large body, difficult to control, and even unable to guarantee the processing quantity and quality of the product.

4) The production process mainly focuses on packaging and assembly processes. A series of supporting equipment such as folding machine, sealing machine, inkjet printer, and packing machine.

5) When automated equipment is not suitable for production due to factors such as processing methods, methods, and environment, it can be designed as an automated production line.

The above content is excerpted from Teacher Du Liping's "Installation and Debugging of Automated Production Lines" and insights from the Long Term Engineering Department.