Claims:1. A system for non-contact type printing process, the system comprising:
at least an auto feeding mechanism;
at least a grouping mechanism adapted for grouping of a desired number of knobs in 3-track arrangement; and
at least an orientation change mechanism adapted to:
maintain at least an orientation of at least a six sets of knobs during the non-contact type printing process;
change the orientation of all the knobs during transfer from a first marking station to a second marking station; and thereby
eject the marked knobs to the bin; wherein
the grouping mechanism and the orientation change mechanism are operatively coupled and are adapted to ensure marking of a matter onto the knobs accurately.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the grouping mechanism further adapted to group the desired number of knobs, preferably at least 12 or 13 knobs, by holding the 14th and 13th knobs by a stopper arrangement from the bottom and pushing the group of knobs using an air jets into the marking station.

3. The system as claimed in claim 2, wherein the 1st knob in every track is stopped by vertical stoppers from bottom.

4. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the orientation change mechanism further consists of twisted rods arrangement with six equidistance supports adapted to change the orientation of all the knobs.

5. A method for marking of knobs using a system, the method comprises:
entering one or more knobs from at least one bowl feeder into at least three tracks of at least a three track arrangement at the buffering station;
grouping the knobs in pre decided number of group of 12 and13 of RCCB and MCB respectively, the knobs are grouped by holding 14th and 13th knobs by a stopper arrangement from the bottom and pushing the group of knobs using air jets into at least a marking station;
pushing, using a mechanical pusher, on availability of the group of knobs at the marking station, for butting of all the knobs and laser marking commences on the marking stations;
initiating the marking; and
ejecting, after the completion of marking, the marked knobs in the three tracks in to at least one bin using mechanical pusher.

6. The method as claimed in claim 5, wherein the 1st knob in every track is stopped by vertical stoppers from bottom.

7. The method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the availability of the group of knobs at the marking station is ensured using a Pokayoke system having at least one sensor.
8. The method as claimed in claims 5 and 7, wherein the marking is initiated after receipt of at least one signal from the Pokayoke sensors.
9. The method as claimed in claim 5, further comprises pushing the group of knobs from the one stations to next station, wherein at an orientation change station, the knobs are adapted to be transferred using air jets in every tracks in the stopper, linear vibration and pushing by pusher assembly.
, Description:TECHNICAL FIELD

[001] The present subject matter described herein, in general, relates to non-contact type printing process, and more particularly relates to handling and positioning of the pre-decided set of knobs to get the required orientation for laser marking.

BACKGROUND

[002] Conventionally, a pad printing process was used for marking onto the group of 6 knobs. The knobs were fed through bowl feeder and Pick and Place arrangement to load the knobs onto the fixtures of 12 station Indexing table. This system used two pad printing machines on different stations for marking of two texts on different surface of the knobs. The orientation of the set of knobs is done through toggling the fixture arrangement.

[003] However, the disadvantage of the convention technology or the technology till date is that there was no positional accuracy of the marking and unnecessary excessive movement of knobs. Also, when treated with ultrasonic cleaning process of Residual Current Circuit Breaker (RCCB) mechanism assembly the printed matter seems to be wiped off. Further, the pad printed ink peels off when scratched by nail and the pad printed matter on knob tends to fade away with time.

[004] Furthermore, in the conventional pad printing process maximum Output per hour was limited to 1800 nos. Major issues like high breakdown time, high cost of service, repair and maintenance adds further operational and maintenance cost. Also, skilled personnel were required to trouble shoot the equipment. The Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) of the machine was very less due to large downtime, preventive maintenance, resulting into very less productivity. Also, the conventional system was not flexible to accommodate any changes.

[005] The above-described deficiencies of today's contact type printing process are merely intended to provide an overview of some of the problems of conventional systems, and are not intended to be exhaustive. Other problems with conventional systems and corresponding benefits of the various non-limiting embodiments described herein may become further apparent upon review of the following description.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

[006] The following presents a simplified summary of the invention in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects of the invention. This summary is not an extensive overview of the present invention. It is not intended to identify the key/critical elements of the invention or to delineate the scope of the invention. Its sole purpose is to present some concept of the invention in a simplified form as a prelude to a more detailed description of the invention presented later.

[007] An object of the present invention is to an automated handling system for knobs of miniature circuit breaker (MCB) and RCCB products for laser marking.

[008] Accordingly, the present invention provides an automated system for handling and positioning of the pre-decided set of knobs to get the required orientation for laser marking. The present invention also ensures maximum utilization of marking envelope of the laser marking machine to achieve higher productivity. The present invention finds use in any industry- where marking on small parts is required at large quantity with low cost and relative ease. The present invention can be used to laser mark on complex geometrical shaped parts.

[009] The present invention relates to process of automatic feeding, handling and locating the complex geometry components for the laser marking application i.e. non-contact type printing process, and more particularly concerns the method by which the system completes the said activity.

[0010] In contrast to the existing prior-art, the present invention provides a unique orientation mechanism i.e., a set of knobs are positioned at desired orientation on both the marking stations and the orientation of the knobs are changed during transfer from one station to another. Further, the present invention also provides a knob handling system having a set of knobs is pushed from one stage to another using mechanical pusher, vibration and air jets.

[0011] In one implementation, the purpose of the present invention is to mark the texts on the knobs with high positional accuracy of +/- 0.1mm, to feed, group, transfer, and position the knobs automatically without operator involvement with higher productivity consistently, and to avoid the damage to the knobs.

[0012] In one implementation, the present invention is advanced as compared to the available prior-art as the number of knobs being marked in a cycle increased from 12 knobs to 78 knobs on 3 track system. Also, there is no separate toggling mechanism required to change the orientation of the knobs. Further, no changeover required as there are dedicated tracks for the two variants. Furthermore, the present invention provides less complex knobs handling, fixture system.

[0013] In contrast to the prior-art, the present invention consists of the following new components: i. bowl feeder with twin track output to cater to two tracks of MCB knobs, ii. Development of mechanism for grouping of pre-decided number of knobs in each of the three tracks, iii. Development of pusher mechanism for movement of set of knobs from present stations to next stations, iv. Development of twisted guides for changing the orientation of knobs during transit, and v. development of three tracks to utilize effectively the marking envelope of the laser marking machine.

[0014] Other aspects, advantages, and salient features of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description, which, taken in conjunction with the annexed drawings, discloses exemplary embodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE ACCOMPANYING DRAWINGS

The above and other aspects, features, and advantages of certain exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be more apparent from the following description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

[0015] Figure 1 and Figure 2 illustrates the MCB and RCCB knobs respectively on which the texts are to be marked using the laser.

[0016] Figure 3 [A] and [B] illustrates an isometric view of the handling system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0017] Figure 4 illustrates a guide rods arrangement for orientation change of the knobs, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0018] Figure 5 illustrates a side view of the 3 track arrangement of the knobs handling system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.
[0019] Figure 6 illustrates an isometric view of the mechanical pusher assembly of all the sets of knobs from the existing station to the next station, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0020] Figure 7 illustrates a three track arrangement at O-OFF marking station, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0021] Figure 8 illustrates the three track arrangement at I-ON marking station, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0022] Figure 9 illustrates the bottom stopper arrangement in all the 3 tracks, which becomes reference for the location of all the knobs, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0023] Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and may have not been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figure may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various exemplary embodiments of the present disclosure. Throughout the drawings, it should be noted that like reference numbers are used to depict the same or similar elements, features, and structures.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

[0024] The following description with reference to the accompanying drawings is provided to assist in a comprehensive understanding of exemplary embodiments of the invention. It includes various specific details to assist in that understanding but these are to be regarded as merely exemplary.

[0025] Accordingly, those of ordinary skill in the art will recognize that various changes and modifications of the embodiments described herein can be made without departing from the scope of the invention. In addition, descriptions of well-known functions and constructions are omitted for clarity and conciseness.

[0026] The terms and words used in the following description and claims are not limited to the bibliographical meanings, but, are merely used by the inventor to enable a clear and consistent understanding of the invention. Accordingly, it should be apparent to those skilled in the art that the following description of exemplary embodiments of the present invention are provided for illustration purpose only and not for the purpose of limiting the invention as defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

[0027] It is to be understood that the singular forms “a,” “an,” and “the” include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise.

[0028] By the term “substantially” it is meant that the recited characteristic, parameter, or value need not be achieved exactly, but that deviations or variations, including for example, tolerances, measurement error, measurement accuracy limitations and other factors known to those of skill in the art, may occur in amounts that do not preclude the effect the characteristic was intended to provide.

[0029] Features that are described and/or illustrated with respect to one embodiment may be used in the same way or in a similar way in one or more other embodiments and/or in combination with or instead of the features of the other embodiments.

[0030] It should be emphasized that the term “comprises/comprising” when used in this specification is taken to specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps or components but does not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, components or groups thereof.

[0031] The present invention relates to process of automatic feeding, handling and locating the complex geometry components for the laser marking application i.e. non-contact type printing process, and more particularly concerns the method by which the system completes the said activity.

[0032] The system of the present invention consists of auto feeding, grouping of desired number of knobs in 3-track arrangement, and maintaining the orientation of all the 6 sets of knobs during laser marking, changing the orientation of all the knobs during transfer from first marking station to second and ejection of marked knobs to the bin. This feature ensures marking of matter onto the knobs precisely.

[0033] In one implementation, then the system consists of two bowl feeders a bowl feeder for MCB knobs and a bowl feeder for RCCB knobs. The bowl feeder for MCB knobs are designed with twin track output arrangement to feed the track no 1 as shown in figure 3. The bowl feeder for RCCB knobs are designed with single track output arrangement to feed the track no 2 in figure 3.

[0034] In one implementation, the present invention comprises a three track arrangement for transferring the set of knobs from one stage to another.

[0035] In one implementation, the present invention comprises a buffering/grouping station wherein the MCB and RCCB knobs get grouped in 13 nos and 12 nos respectively. This is done by holding 14th and 13th knobs by a stopper arrangement from the bottom and pushing the group of knobs using air jets into the marking station no 4 in figure 3. The 1st knob in every track is stopped by vertical stoppers from bottom.

[0036] In one implementation, the present invention comprises a orientation change mechanism which consists of twisted rods 9 in figure 4 [7 for MCB track and 6 for RCCB knobs] arrangement with six equidistance supports. This arrangement is designed using the interpolation method to find out the trajectory of each rod. The orientation change of all the knobs happens during transfer through those guides. The MCB and RCCB knobs are rotated through 115 and 136 degrees respectively.

[0037] In one implementation, the present invention also comprises a dual head laser marking machine mounted on rigid stand with height adjusting facility.

[0038] In one implementation, the following sequence of operation to achieve the present invention may be followed by the above system:
At step 1: The knobs from the bowl feeders enters into the 3 tracks at the buffering station 3 in figure 3. The three track arrangement as shown 10, 11 and 12 in figure 7 and 8.
At step 2: The MCB and RCCB knobs get grouped in 13 nos and 12 nos respectively. This is done by holding 14th and 13th knobs by a stopper arrangement from the bottom and pushing the group of knobs using air jets into the marking station no 4 in figure 3. The 1st knob in every track is stopped by vertical stoppers from bottom.
At step 3: Once all the knobs are available at marking station no 4, the mechanical pusher assembly 8 in figure 3, pushes for butting of all the knobs and laser marking commences on both the stations i.e. 4 and 6 in figure 3. There is a Pokayoke system to ensure the desired quantity of knobs at marking station. In this Pokayoke system the sensor mounted on the rear side of the pusher lever gets ON only when the number of knobs is correct.
At step 4: The laser marking gets initiated only after the signal from the 6 Pokayoke sensors. After the completion of marking, the pusher releases the butting and then the vertical stopper goes down. The mechanical pusher assembly pushes all the groups of knobs from the existing stations to next stations. At orientation change station, the knobs get transferred using air jets in every track in the stopper, linear vibration and pushing by pusher assembly.
At step 5: The marked knobs in all the three tracks get ejected by the pusher into the bin.

[0039] Figure 1 and Figure 2 illustrates re the MCB and RCCB knobs respectively on which the texts are to be marked using the laser.

[0040] Figure 3 [A] and 3 [B] illustrates an isometric view of the handling system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0041] Figure 4 illustrates a guide rods arrangement for orientation change of the knobs, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0042] Figure 5 illustrates a side view of the 3 track arrangement of the knobs handling system, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0043] Figure 6 illustrates an isometric view of the mechanical pusher assembly of all the sets of knobs from the existing station to the next station, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0044] Figure 7 illustrates a three track arrangement at O-OFF marking station, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0045] Figure 8 illustrates the three track arrangement at I-ON marking station, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0046] Figure 9 illustrates the bottom stopper arrangement in all the 3 tracks, which becomes reference for the location of all the knobs, in accordance with an embodiment of the present subject matter.

[0047] Apart from what is discussed above, some other benefits and/or technical advantages and/or some specific features of the present invention are as provided below:
i. The marking of knobs can be done at the rate of 78 Knobs per minute. i.e. 4680 Nos per hour.
ii. The present invention provides no need to run the production in batches as there are dedicated tracks for the two variants. i.e., no changeover is required.
iii. The present invention ensures breakdown/repair is minimal and associated only with pneumatics and laser marking machine.
iv. The present invention ensures easy construction and reduced number of parts making repair and maintenance cheap.
v. The present invention ensures ideal state for any medium scale industries having mass production.
vi. The present invention ensures no consumable needs to be maintained.
vii. The present invention provides twin outlet tracks from a single bowl feeder for MCB knobs.
viii. The present invention provides handling of knobs without use of any pick and place arrangement.
ix. The present invention provides way of pushing the pre-decided number of knobs to form their sets by air jets in each track and holding back the unwanted knobs by a stopper from bottom.
x. The present invention provides a pokayoke system to ensure the availability of pre-decided quantity of knobs at each marking stations, involves pusher design with sensor mounting on to it.
xi. The present invention provides butting arrangement of pre-decided quantity of knobs before start of marking cycle.
xii. The present invention provides orientation changing unit made of twisted SS guide rods and having air jets through nozzles in bottom stopper.
xiii. The present invention provides use of vibration, air jets for pushing the plastic knobs through the twisted guides, as there no accessibility of knobs for contact pushing by mechanical pusher.
xiv. The present invention provides provision of air jets at 15 to 20 degrees with horizontal at the end of orientation change unit.
xv. The present invention provides mechanical pusher assembly, which takes care of pushing of 9 sets of knobs throughout the accessible sections of the handling system from their existing stations to next stations simultaneously.
xvi. The present invention provides a design of tracks to use effectively the marking envelope of Laser marking machine.
xvii. The present invention provides an auto feeding of knobs using bowl feeder with multiple outlet tracks.
xviii. The present invention provides grouping of desired number of knobs in the desired orientation in the form of group.
xix. The present invention provides transfer mechanism from one station to another with orientation change during transit.

[0048] It may be clearly understood by a person skilled in the art that for the purpose of convenient and brief description, for a detailed working process of the foregoing system, devices, and unit, reference may be made to a corresponding process in the foregoing device/apparatus embodiments, and details are not described herein again.

[0049] In the several embodiments provided in the present application, it should be understood that the disclosed system, apparatus, and device may be implemented in other manners. For example, a plurality of units or components or mechanisms may be combined or integrated into another system, or some features may be ignored or not performed. In addition, the displayed or discussed mutual couplings or direct couplings or communication connections may be implemented through some interfaces. The indirect couplings or communication connections between the apparatuses or units may be implemented in electronic, mechanical, or other forms.

[0050] The various mechanisms described as separate parts may or may not be physically separate, and the parts displayed as mechanisms may or may not be physical units, may be located in one position, or may be distributed at various location of the device. Some or all of the units may be selected to achieve the objective of the solution of the embodiment according to actual needs.

[0051] In addition, the mechanisms in the embodiments of the present invention may be integrated into one processing unit, or each of the mechanisms may exist alone physically, or two or more mechanisms may be integrated into one mechanism.

[0052] Although combinations of an automated handling system for knobs of MCB and RCCB products for laser marking disclosed, it is to be understood that the embodiments disclosed in the above section are not necessarily limited to the specific features or methods or devices described. Rather, the specific features are disclosed as examples of implementations of an automated handling system for knobs of MCB and RCCB products for laser marking.