Products Suitable for Use with Flexible Feeders

Flexible feeders excel in applications requiring high flexibility e gentle handling. They are ideal for:

1. Tangle-Prone and Delicate Parts

This is the primary strength of flexible feeders, solving key pain points of vibratory bowls.

• Examples:
  • All types of springs
  • O-rings, seals
  • Flexible wires, cables
  • Thin-walled, precision metal/plastic parts
• Reason: Parts are freely scattered, eliminating forced friction and impact that cause tangling, scratches, and deformation.

2. Parts with Complex Geometry, Difficult to Orient

When mechanical orientation is too complex or costly.

• Examples:
  • Asymmetric parts
  • Parts with deep holes/cavities
  • Parts with subtle orientation features
• Reason: Vision systems can easily identify subtle features for precise orientation.

3. High-Mix, Low-Volume Production

When production lines require frequent product changeover.

• Examples: R&D labs, medical device manufacturers, electronics contract manufacturers.
• Reason: Changeover requires no hardware modification—just loading a new vision program—reducing setup time from hours to minutes.

4. Applications Requiring High Integration with Robots

• Examples: Any part requiring robotic pick-and-place.
• Reason: Flexible feeders are inherently designed for vision-guided robotics, providing precise coordinates for the robot.

Summary of Core Criteria

In summary, a flexible feeder is the optimal choice when your core needs are flexibility, part protection, handling complex shapes, and rapid changeover. It represents a paradigm shift from “hard mechanical orientation” to “soft vision-guided” feeding.