Cam Indexing Drives

The "Globoidal Cam Indexing Drives" are mechanical indexing systems which convert, continuous notary input motion into intermittent, indexing output motion.

The input shaft carries the Globoidal Cam. This cam has a groove, which obeys the acceleration control "motion law". The output shaft carries the cam followers, which engage in the groove of the cam.

The "motion laws" are designed to give a very smooth, jerk free indexing motion. Since the cam followers are pre - loaded against the cam, the backlash is practically zero.

The Cam Indexing drives have large number of applications. They can be used in almost any automatic machine, which involves transfer of components on "rotary dial plate" or "linear indexing conveyor".

The Cam Indexing drives are available in various combination of dwell angle and index angle to cater to different applications. There are various models [sizes] of Cam Indexing drives with different load carrying capacities.

Orbital Systems are the manufacturers of high productivity assembly machines using their cam index tables. These standard machines are available with various stops say, 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 12, 16, or 24. At each station, a particular operation related to the finished part is being performed simultaneously. Moreover there is an overlap of activities of loading, process & unloading which reduces the total cycle time.

For example, while the operator loads the loose part on the station in front of him, at the adjacent station the machine is doing a different operation, say checking the parts using a vision device or a special sensor. At the subsequent station(s) an assembly equipment such as an orbital riveting machine, hydro pneumatic press or ultrasonic welding machines or any other is positioned to complete the assembly process. At the last station the part is either ejected using an ejection cylinder, or picked from the fixture using a pick-n-place unit. In some cases the part may be ejected using an air blow arrangement. Various combinations to the electric panel are available, starting from the simple contactor logic circuit to the sophisticated PLC logic.

Productivity levels are very high and actual studies have shown that there is an increase of over 40% in the output with these machines. These machines are very compact, and easy to maintain. With a starting price of Rs 5.0 lacs for the basic version, these machines are a welcome boon to the assembly of small components in the electronic, electrical and automobile industries.