Design and Production of a Feeding and Weighing System for Fasteners

The paper follows the process of design, development and production of a weighing system for fasteners. The technical requirement is to weigh doses in the range 0 - 250 grams of various bulk fasteners - screws, nuts, rivets, pins, washers and so on and the weight has to be adjustable from an HMI. The process starts with analysis of the part geometries, tolerances, specific details regarding the feeding and continues with the design of a feeding system that feeds the fasteners towards a weighing system, capable of measuring in the requested range, with accuracy of about 5 grams. The main challenges of such a system are the mechanical design, in particular the distance between the falling edge of the feeding system and the container of the weighing device. This is essential for the achievement of the accuracy requirement. The control system should be responsible for all devices involved in the process - feeding components, weighing system, flaps and so on.