Automated Mechanical & Welded Assemblies

OKAY designs and builds custom automated assembly equipment, CNC rotary press systems and automated welding processes.

AUTOMATED MECHANICAL ASSEMBLY

An example of Okay’s automated assembly capabilities is a machine that mates five stamped components with two pins. This machine eliminated the dimensional and damage problems experienced by our customer with their manual process. Designed by Okay’s engineers, the machine is electro-pneumatic and fully automatic, loading and locating each component in the assembly, staking the pins to complete the assembly, and unloading the part directly to the packaging system. The entire process is computer-controlled, allowing for several quality check stations, maximum flexibility, optimum speeds, and requires only modest human intervention.

Other recent creations include automated welding systems to combine two or more components into a subassembly through resistance and laser welding. As one example, Okay developed an automated welding solution to combine four components into a subassembly, using laser welding. Three of the components are inserted on to a fourth automatically, and a laser welds the assembly in eight places. The entire cycle is viewed by a video monitoring system that monitors and controls the weld quality.

Many of our customers are taking advantage of Okay’s assembly capability. They have fewer operations in their own assembly process, fewer subcontractors to manage, and they have lower inventories of fewer stock items, all of which reduces their costs and time to market.

CNC CONTROLLED ROTARY PRESS SYSTEMS

Okay developed a CNC controlled rotary press system to address a new application. One challenge was a series of formed channels made from .075" thick material, and the inside channel width was only .200". A hole was required in both channel walls, held to a true position tolerance of .001". Normally, the only way to produce the holes under these conditions would be a costly machining operation. Due to the narrow channel width, the slugs from a piercing operation could not be expelled through the piercing horn. On Okay’s machine, the rotary table lifts vertically two inches, rotates sixty degrees, and then moves down two inches to its piercing height. The lift of the table is necessary to lift the previously pierced part off the piercing horn, allow clearance for a slide to push the slugs out of the piercing horn, and to move the part to the unload station.

AUTOMATIC VISION INSPECTION SYSTEM

Okay has added to its arsenal of inspection equipment, an automated vision inspection system for 100% inspection of knife-edges. The system accepts the product in magazine stacks, and strips one part from the stack and presents it accurately into position so that it can be viewed by three video cameras. The cameras each take a picture and instantly analyze the data to determine acceptance or rejection based on pixel reflection. The programming of the PLC also sorts the product back into magazines based on acceptance or rejection and if rejected, which camera produced the rejection. The speed of the system was designed to inspect 200% more parts per shift than current production needs so that increased volume requirements could be met as this business continues to grow.

CONCLUSION

Building upon our experience with high precision metal stampings and stamped assemblies, Okay’s expanded Engineering staff has the capability to provide rapid tooling of families of prototypes, parts, and subassemblies to get our customers to market first, and with confidence.