Automation and Motion Control Blog

Placing Watch Stones in Tubes by Asyril

Written by Kelly Howe | Aug 25, 2015 1:30:00 PM

This post is brought to you by Asyril.

APPLICATION NOTE:

Asyril has developed a machine that provides its customers with unrivalled flexibility in the preparation of watch stones for the needs of production.

TUBE FILLING: A FILLING TUBES: A TIME-CONSUMING OPERATION

The idea of packaging small components in tubes is widespread in the Swiss watch-making industry. It is a very practical way of storing, transporting and using a wide range of small components, such as ruby stones, for example. Ruby stones are packaged in a predefined orientation and can be removed from the tube one by one in a precise manner for final assembly.

The preparation of these tubes is a tedious operation, nowadays carried out either manually or with complex automatic machines, which do not offer great flexibility.

ASYFEED POCKET: A SIMPLE AND FLEXIBLE SOLUTION

To simplify this packaging operation, asyril has developed an ultra-compact robotic cell which enables the components to be taken directly from the bulk and inserted into the tube.

The machine is based on a flexible component feeding system, a camera for detecting the position and orientation of the components, and a highprecision miniature robot which will pick them up and insert them into the tube.

Rubies used in watchmaking can therefore be packaged at a rate often lower than one stone per second. The tubes can be placed on the machine either individually or in batches of 20.

The machine is easy to reconfigure and can therefore handle all types of stone. Product changeover from one batch of stones to another takes less than 2 minutes.

BENEFITS FOR THE CUSTOMER

  • Substantial flexibility enabling a large number of product types to be processed on the same machine (stones that are crystal, semi-crystal, convex, flat, with or without oil sink crystal)
  • Very rapid product changeover
  • Fewer orientation errors in the tube

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