IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering

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Design and Fabrication of Step Feeder automation Machine for the

Automobile Steering Ball joints
To cite this article: G M Oorappan et al 2020 IOP Conf. Ser.: Mater. Sci. Eng. 995 012021

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ICMEEP 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 995 (2020) 012021 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/995/1/012021

Design and Fabrication of Step Feeder automation Machine

for the Automobile Steering Ball joints

G M Oorappan1, A Jeevanandham2, R Sivabalakrishnan3, S. Sudhahar 4

1, 3 Assistant Professor, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Department of

Mechatronics Engineering, Erode, Tamilnadu, India.
2 Professor, Sri Krishna College of Engineering and Technology, Department of
Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Coimbatore, Tamilnadu, India.
4 Assistant Professor, Bannari Amman Institute of Technology, Department of
Electronics and instrumentation Engineering, Erode, Tamilnadu, India.

[email protected], [email protected],
[email protected], [email protected]

Abstract. Automation feeding machine helps to replace the manual feeding of the components
to achieve the production rate. Even so, all industrialists have been trying to get 100%
efficiency from every machine and to give more production. The production rate of the
machine is depended on certain factors like feeding, accuracy, Manpower, etc. However,
feeding is the most important factor, because the production will be fast only while the
component is federal quick. This paper is providing an automation solution of feed ball joints
for an automotive industry when the vehicle gathers the steering assembly. There were many
feeding mechanisms available. Still, the ball joint is such a large component and should need a
certain interval to feed it correctly as required. In this machine, the hoppers to be a trapezoidal
tanks stores the sorted of long components. The two-step feeders consist of cylinders, which
make the movement of steps. The steps that are used the EN-8 materials are used to make the
feeder assembly, and those are connected with the cylinders that are used to construct the up
and down movements, when the cylinder makes the forward and retracts motion. The steps
scoop up the components and feed them to the additive chute. The linear chute transfers the
properly oriented components to the singling unit feeds the components to the machine for
making further operations.

Keywords: Hopper, Step feeder, Linear Chute, Singling unit, PLC.

1. Introduction
Auto feeders are the easy way to feed and use the components without any time lag. Those are low
cost when compared to robots and gantry systems. From starting to end of the machine, all the works
are important. Initially, the design plays a major role in any machine. It is only way to interact with
company mates and analyse the problem and how to found the solution should be discussed among the
team of the company. However, the solution is simple that some companies will provide it Hence this
machine provides certain solution of the problem will occur during the production process[1]. Same as
like, this solution named STEP FEEDER AUTOMATION (which feeds ball joints) for an automobile
company.

The features of step feeder are:

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ICMEEP 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 995 (2020) 012021 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/995/1/012021

• Pneumatic operated and PLC control.

• 4-inch touch screen for monitoring and controlling.
• Easy Maintenance and friendly design.
• Easy to use and interface.

Machine involve in various sections, which are designing, manufacturing and assembly,
programming, wiring and finally testing[2]. Design involves (every single and every part to be carried)
whole design setup. To design the feeder SOLIDWORKS software is used. SOLIDWORKS is a
conceptualization-designing tool for speedily creating many industrial design concepts with unique
tools for design and manipulating.
This software is only to design the mechanical components and assembly section. PLC involved
another part in the machine for proper controlling. This will be very useful for understanding of
control wiring. When problems occurred, a new person can solve the problem easily using this
PLC[3]. For this, the work involves in addition selecting a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller),
calculating the SMPS (Switch Mode Power Supply) rating and MCB (Miniature Circuit Breaker),
Control panel board design, programming part. This is the replacement of manual operation with
increase in safety purposes.

2. Methodology
The alternating vibrations create a motion that guidance the raw components to proceed up the steps
on the inside curved surface of the feeder product machine. The downward step feeder path has been
custom-made fiduciary, so it allows the components in the prearranged orientation to make it to the
next process[4]. The damaged or unwanted components get back from the machine because good
components will reach the proper aligned position only after the several short-circuit trips in the
feeder. The energy of vibration propelling the components to go into the spiral motion more than it
leaves to the downward, indeed the components of the motion defied the gravity.

Figure 1. Block diagram of step feeder automation

The above block diagram Figure 1. shows that the process flow of step feeder, where the methodology
says about the working process. First, the programmed control unit controls the whole process PLC
(The Programmable Logic Controller) unit controls the feeding machine. In addition, it controls the
vibratory controller, sensor, pneumatics and other functional units. Since this is a closed-loop control
system, it will be having a feed after for each operation these feedbacks will help to the conventional
method of using power and flexible way of feeding.
Surface mounted technology (SMT) manufactures produced great no of components more than
40,000 per hour to make this many large components[5]. Conventional XY-YZ assembly machine
and improved feeding mechanism by reducing the feeding distance the step feeder is involved in
feeding lager components such as vacuum tubes, etc.

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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 995 (2020) 012021 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/995/1/012021

3. Design and construction

The design is important part of any machine because if the design part invokes any failure the whole
machine will drop down. Then it have to start the work/process from starting point. Hence, thus leads
to unwanted work had to done and waste of money, labour and material. In this machine, various
components are to designed and some samples are provided here[6].

Figure 2. Post- design of step feeder machine for ball joint

At first, the design was made as in the Figure 3. but due to some of the problems raised like cost,
space convenience, it has to change the design. So the design was made as per the picture in the
Figure 2.
This step feeder is the compact ignoble noise alternative to a bowl feeding machine. In many
occurrences, the components can be tooled without the aid or air such a way that the Hooper
constructed in the step feeder machine. A very low filling height can be loaded manually. The
components are collected from the Hooper by elevating plates; pre-sorted and feed to the top feeding
technique is used to reach the desired transfer height. This system is manageable, low-cost, absorbs
less power, and it be an easily operable so that the user can freely use this machine to feeding the
steering ball joint in the automobile industry.

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ICMEEP 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 995 (2020) 012021 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/995/1/012021

Figure 3. Pre- design of step feeder machine for ball joint

Mechanical components are made of CI which is used for working variable mechanical properties,
mechanical fixtures and mechanical advantages most of the mechanical components Figure 4. shows
are made by machine team only few complex design are manufactured in special purpose machining
centres.[7]
Mechanical components are made of CI, which is used for working variable properties, fixtures and
advantages. Most of the components are constructed from the machine team only few complex designs
are manufactured in special-purpose machining centres.

Figure 4. Constructed components for step feeder machine

Linear cylinders play major role for step feeding and for singling purpose. Machine has two types of
cylinders one is “15 25”, the other is “60 110." .The bigger one is used for feeding purpose. Small one
is for singling. The rotary positioning pneumatic drive is used for positioning the ball joints before the
singling cylinders are activated. This positioning drive is capable of higher accuracy as a servo drive
does. The Filter, Regulator and Lubricator (FRL) unit is used to clean and lubricate the air inlet to the
cylinders. This FRL unit is capable of regulating 50mpa of an air inlet. The valve terminal series is a
combined unit of 5/2 valve. This valve terminal used in this machine consisted of series of 10 5/2
valves[8].
PLC is one of the main electric devices used to control the whole machine set up. It has two couples
of 17in 17out PLC to control the unit. An eight channel relay system is capable of switching lines to
control the unit as per the PLC program command is given. There will be six relay channels is used in

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ICMEEP 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 995 (2020) 012021 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/995/1/012021

this setup. The fuse ac and dc are used to save the sensors from higher frequency since the machine
works at 460-volt supply. Table.1 shows the important devices of step feeder and their specification
details.
Table 1. Important devices of step feeder and their specification details
Important Device of Size of the
S.No. Specification
Step Feeder Components
1 Bowl Capacity in litre 5
Discharge height in cm 17
Width of track in cm 18
Track pitch (Spiral Distance in cm) 8
Bowl weight in kg 9
Total Discharge height in cm 82
Fixing Central
2 Level Controller Inductive Sensor diameter in cm 1.2
10-30 VDC or 90 –
Operating voltage
250VAC
Capacity of the sensor 130mA or 200mA
Total cable length in cm 150
3 Drive Units Drive unit height in cm 6.5
Drive unit diameter in cm 6
Pitch between mounting/No. of bores 40/2
Drive unit weight in kg 8
Rating in Amps 4
Length of connection cable in m 4
Vibration frequency 100Hz
Protective casing Steel
4 Base Plate Plate Diameter in cm 21.8
Position of control box mounting in cm 12.5
Fixing hole centre in cm 14
Plate height in cm 2.3
5 Top plate Plate Diameter in cm 40
Plate height in cm 53.5

The fuses are categorized as AC & DC for typical sensors. The variable frequency drive is used to
drive the whole units' power supply and controls the sensor power supply too. A switched-mode power
supply (SMPS) is used to convert the AC to DC in a way to control the power level of supply from the
main supply. The vibratory coil will provide vibration for the linear shoot to move the components
from step to singling unit. It has 110-volts for this coil. The terminal blocks are used to connect the
sensors, PLC, relay channel, SMPS, etc.

3.1 Determination of the bowl feeder force:

The assembly of the bowl feeder contains two main parts, a conveying element with a
trapezoidal(T) form and a supporting cylindrical(C) element. Both parts are linked by springs and they
are uniformly spread around their rotational axes yT and yS. Three flat spring packages are used here.
Three flat spring packages are used here. Each package was declined by an angle βTC to the axis
plane. It had its stiffness, and the total values of all springs packages were interpreted as k TC . The total
damping coefficient was specified by valuebTC .
The conveyancing element was described by its mass mT and by its moment of inertia 𝐽T𝑦 around
rotational axis 𝑦. The supporting element had mass 𝑚C, the moment of inertia 𝐽C𝑦, and it was placed

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ICMEEP 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 995 (2020) 012021 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/995/1/012021

on springs with total stiffness 𝑘C𝑅𝑥 and 𝑘C𝑅𝑦, and with total damping coefficients 𝑏C𝑅𝑥 and 𝑏C𝑅𝑦.
The entire mechanism was settled with a rigid connection to the frame.
The movement of the bowl feeder Mechanism can be characterized with help of four coordinates, two
translations 𝑦𝑁 , 𝑦𝑆 and two rotations 𝜑𝑁𝑦, 𝜑𝑆𝑦. The relative movements of both parts are defined:
yTC = yT + yC (1)
and
φTCy = φTy − φCy (2)
In these aims, four differential equations specifying the movement of the bowl feeder system can
be written:
mT y ̈T + FbTCy + FkTCy + FVM cosβTC = FTC (3)

Jy φ ̈Ty + MbTCy + MkTCy − rVM FVM sinβTC = 0 (4)

mC y ̈C + FCRy y ̇C − FbTCy + FCRy ẏ C − FkTCy − FVM cosβTC = −FTCy (5)

JCy φ ̈Cy + bφCRy φ ̇Cy − MbTCy + k φCRy φCy − MkTCy + rVM FVM sinβTC = 0 (6)
Where force 𝐹𝑉𝑀 is a connection force between the conveying part and the supporting part, which
is transferred by the joint mechanism of both parts. Force 𝐹TC𝑦 is the exciting force between the
conveying part and supporting part.

4. Working principle
Auto loader is to load the components to the grinding machine. The machined components are
drawn from it and finally load to container box. The detailed operation of an auto loader is involved
through the gravity feeder, escapement valves, and conveyor. Initially, the components are loaded in
the gravity feeder only[9]. The name itself indicates that, it feed the components to the conveyor with
help of gravity. According to Newton's gravity laws, the components with certain mass always
attracted towards the ground. The gravity feeder is at the angle of 40°, through the sliding force one by
one the components will come to next position. In the gravity feeder, the guide strips are provided to
avoid external problems and easy adjustment for varying lengths of components loading conditions[3].
To control the components to be fed on conveyor, escapement valves are used. Escapement
valves are acts as a blocker of whole remaining components. In auto loader, machine consists of two
escapements. These two escapements are operated with cylinder performances, which are controlled
by PLC.
Auto loader consists of three conveyors are in-feed conveyor, Out-feed conveyor and External
conveyor.
All these conveyors are used to transfer the component from one place to another[10]. In-feed and out-
feed conveyor is of round belt conveyor, uses an induction motor for running with help of pulley & the
External conveyor is the flat belt type. Figure 5. Shows the finalized manufacturing machine of steo
feeder automation of ball joint. The already loaded component in the gravity feeder is fed to the
conveyor through, the escapements' sequence the sequence as follows.

Escapement 1-up → Escapement 1-down [all components in the gravity feeder stepped down to
one-step].
Escapement 2-up→ Escapement 2-down [a single row of aligned components fed to the conveyor].
The above-mentioned sequence will operate with help of proximity inductive flange type sensor.
After the components are in the conveyor crossed the sensor, the next sequence starts. The proximity
sensor is also placed in out-feed to verify all the components arrived or not.

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ICMEEP 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 995 (2020) 012021 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/995/1/012021

Singling unit is a functional mechanical unit where the ball joint is positioned and pushed to final
location of the feeder, this is done by two singling cylinders and a rotary cylinder.

Initially, the testing components are arranged on the gravity feeder in a proper manner. In this
machine, there was the operation is controlled by two modes, which are manual and auto.
The operation type is selected by switch the specific mode. If the operation is in manual mode, the
parts moment of the machine is controlled by the human with the help of HMI screen. If the operation
is in auto-mode means to click cycle start option only on the HMI screen. The escapement 1 and
escapement 2 are used to allow the testing components to the conveyor by the alternative up and down
moments of the escapement cylinders.

Figure 5. Finalized manufacturing machine of step feeder automation

Apart from designing, assembly plays a crucial role in working of machine. If mechanical
components must be fitted according to design. The error may happen at machining or in design, the
assembly section finds the problem occurred and also to discovery a suitable solution for the problem.
This problems and solutions are discussed later.
In this machine, three components are used. Those vary according to the diameter namely 10
mm,12.5mm & 25mm. For each diameter size the guide way to be varied. Actually, the auto loads'
component to the grinding machine for this purpose guide way is provided and also for better
accuracy. The guide consisted of the strip provided with slot.
Spacer in the guide way is used to align the centre of in-feed and out-feed with grinding machine
spacer in escapement cylinders is used to hold the components according to size as mentioned.

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ICMEEP 2020 IOP Publishing
IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 995 (2020) 012021 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/995/1/012021

Escapement is to be changed according to component size. This is provided because if escapement is

same for all means can damage the component.

5. Result and Discussion

This paper presented problems occurred during the testing of an auto loader. From all problems
mentioned below are identified with the help of repeating testing and evaluation of the research
manner. When the components fed from a row to the conveyor through in the sideway escapement,
single component or more than one turns and fell into the conveyor in wrong direction. The space
between gravity feeder and conveyor is varied (about 4mm distance) when the adjusted the conveyor,
the problem vanished. In a row, there will be four components, but only three components will fall
down to the conveyor, and one stuck in gravity feeder causing escapement error in HMI. After this
problem, identified a bur in the edge of gravity feeder. This problem will also occurred if distance
between the slide-way strips is uneven. Some component contains oil, adhesion problem existed. The
components should not be grouped together while feeding.
For same position, the length of the round conveyor uneven belt helped to escape the components
from the row. Rework took place. For many components, the rework is done [for example, Guide-way
of 12.5 mm, escapement spacer of 25 mm, nylon strip (hole misaligned). Torque is not enough to pull
the loaded components in conveyor, stacking of three or four components in the conveyor itself.
Increase the length of in-feed conveyor.
This paper is give the solutions for the all researched problems of the machine after the continuous
testing and at last machine is completed and successfully finalized.

6. Conclusion
In this paper, a conceptual foundation for automatic step feeding machine for ball joint has been
presented. The framework introduces feeding aspects that cover how production is increases in
automobile industry, and how the feeding process can be conducted for steering ball joint mechanism.
The demonstrated work is expected to raise the reactiveness of automobile production companies, in
terms of reducing the development time of production systems and Manpower.
The essential focus of the paper is to express how automatic step feeding mechanism can be
sequence's ball joint, for which a sensing-based matchmaking procedure is used to conduct the
identification of the steering wheel. Through the designs provided in this paper, the technological
approach is rowed to be a satisfied approach to the modelling ball joint feeding mechanism, since it
equips the modelling of constraints between abilities and proposal's continuous incorporation of
steering wheel mechanism. Future work will be concentrated on stretching the capacity model for
different parts feeding, together with implementation of the matchmaking procedure. Furthermore,
since the modeling approaches only been used to design part feeding resources, further research has to
be highly organized to corroborate the innovative approaches against other types of resources.

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IOP Conf. Series: Materials Science and Engineering 995 (2020) 012021 doi:10.1088/1757-899X/995/1/012021

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