Probe Industries, Inc. : Machinery Repairs

Ultra High Speed Robot   At the Adept Global Conference for automated equipment we got to see first hand, the speed and dexterity of the Adept Quattro s650 robot. This robot is fast and quite flexible in more ways than one. It is great for high speed packaging, manufacturing, assembly kitting, pick and place, and other assembly applications. The Quattro is a parallel robot designed for ultra-high-speeds. With an innovative four parallel arms design, this robot is great for quick picks. When coupled with conveyor belts, vision systems, and the large working envelope and work range, along with integrating various robot tooling end effectors such as vacuum cups and grippers, it is easy to see how this robot is a great pick for all types of product manufacturing and assembly applications. Some of the robotic applications include: food handling, material handling, packaging, electrical and mechanical assembly, testing, inspection, dispensing, and routing. Robotics Integration The i...

The Adept Global Conference will feature industry leaders, the latest trends in flexible automation, real-world case studies, live robot and vision demonstrations and a chance to network with automation leaders. Speakers during the automation conference will include representatives from manufacturers and industry experts covering key markets. Conference Highlights Wednesday, April 2, 2008 Welcome Reception at Adept - Evening Thursday, April 3, 2008 Successful Installations in Food Packaging Automation Pepperidge Farms Robotics for high-Speed Packaging Great Lakes Cheese Company World-wide Robotics Industry Update Robotics Industries Association Evening: San Francisco Bay Cruise Friday, April 4, 2008 Worldwide Packaging Industry Update Packaging Machinery Manufacturers Institute Flexible Automation in the Solar Industry Evergreen Solar CONFERENCE DATE April 2 - 4, 2008 LOCATION Adept Technology, Inc. World Headquarters 3011 Triad Drive Livermore, California 945...

As with any CNC machine, and Excellon is no exception, it is wise to make sure operators keep the hammers and pry bars away from the table tops. Operators seem to continually try to challenge the structural integrity of the machines by placing tools on top of the tables or in the path of machine carriages and powered XYZ assemblies, and then decide to hit the park button or typing a high speed jog command into the keyboard. Loud thumps can be heard clear across the production floor. More than one machine has taken a crash over the years. Actually, this type of crash is a very common occurrence in the life of a drill and rout cnc machine. Even cnc milling machines and other types of automated servo controlled equipment and robotics have been known to take a hit or two from someone leaving a tool on the table or getting it wedged between the XYZ moving parts. Excellon drilling and routing machines only had spindles to contend with, on the z axis overhead assembly, a crash was much easi...

With the cost to purchase new drilling and routing machines at hundreds of thousands of dollars, it makes economical sense to provide oil free, and dry air to the equipment. With the new synthetic oils being used to lubricate the internal mechanical parts of compressor systems today, many overlook the fact that these oils that help compressors run efficiently are the same oils that contaminate and destroy the rubber "O" rings, seals, and solenoids used throughout the entire manufacturing facility when compressors are not functioning at top performance. Many times, years later, equipment that has been run with contaminated compressed air will have a life long list of problems that seems to never go away. "O" rings and seals are not the only items that can become damaged with poor air quality. The air hoses themselves can become rotten from the inside out. Many of the synthetic oils actually breakdown the rubber hoses to the point where they become super soft in which...

Spindle Runout Problems Can Be Your Hidden Quality Issues In Building Reliable Printed Circuit Boards The simple definition of spindle radial runout is how much wobble a spindle produces at the nose. Axial runout is the measurement of how much play there is perpendicular to the axis of rotation. The reading is represented by Total Indicated Runout, TIR, which means the distance measured between the largest plus direction and the largest minus direction for a total indicated amount. A spindle can be measured either dynamically (at speed) or statically. The dynamic measurement is by far, the most accurate and requires special non-contact measuring devices. Today's air bearing spindles have gotten faster with higher precision than the ball bearing spindles of the past. Air bearing PCB spindles can typically be found running in the 120K RPM through 180K RPM ranges, with some spindles running up at 300,000 RPMs. Since the spindle air bearings are floating on air, no mechanical contact...

Everyone wants a great deal on Excellon machines or any used equipment. With many circuit board shops closing down, and their equipment being auctioned off, it is wise to have the machines checked out before buying. The Tale Of The Uninformed Used Equipment Purchase Excellon, Kennard, PDA, Pluritec, Hitachi, Mania, Klingelnberg, Advanced Controls, Trudrill, ESI, Dynamotion, ATI, Wessel, DAC, and other PCB drilling and fabrication equipment, that supposedly were running before being shut down have cost thousands of dollars to the unsuspecting buyer when buying blindly online through an auction or even the buyer looking at the machine in person. Instead of having a qualified and experienced service technician inspect the machines, buyers go it alone. Buyers think they are getting a great deal, but many times what they are getting is a big boat anchor. The outside of the machines can look all beautiful and cleaned up, while the inside is falling apart. We have seen machines that looked l...