Laser Marking & Assembly System

Automatically orient, assemble, and laser-mark titanium medical devices.

The assembly and laser-engraving system uses an Epson robot and a Keyence Class-IV, 30-watt laser to automatically insert a metal "stop" into a titanium sleeve at varying heights and engrave pertinent product information in 7 seconds.

Bulk parts enter the system via vibratory bowls that orient and singulate each part, and then output to nests for pick-and-place assembly operations. Part orientation at each nest is confirmed by machine vision. The robot will pick a sleeve from the nest and, using the other portion of a dual end-effector, the robot will pick a stop from the stop nest. The robot will then deliver the sleeve to the laser marking system where it will be marked in a light-tight enclosure while simultaneously orienting the stop in place for insertion. Next, the sleeve is moved to the insertion station. With the stop at a fixed height, the robot will drive the sleeve down in the Z-axis over the stop to the desired insertion height per the current recipe. Completed sleeve assemblies are placed into a custom output tray and non-conforming parts are transferred to a dedicated reject bin.