Automated Pad Printing & Machine Vision Inspection

Impetus to Invent

The customer needed a rock-solid design for a medical pad printing project and turned to Invent Automation. A very clean and simple design accommodated several part numbers at an ergonomic height for the operator to load and unload. If a bad pad print was found, the machine vision system would identify it, and instead of returning the product to the operator, the part would be automatically discarded into a reject bin. The system had to sit close to the area where the parts were produced, requiring a small footprint and easy movability if needed. All goals were achieved, and a happy customer was created.

Problem Solved

Ergonomic workstation for the operator to load and unload parts for pad printing and inspection.

Lessons Learned

The customer had strict medical machine design requirements that had to be adhered to.

What Was Unique

It's not often that a piece of automation is a singular linear rail that does so much. That made it a lot of fun

What Was Challenging

There needed to be a fast and foolproof method to eject parts. We develop an innovative way to do so with no foreseeable failure modes for a part not being rejected when called upon.