Where FlexiBowl earns its keep.
The same disc, impulses and vision handle very different parts. Here is how FlexiBowl is actually used across medical, packaging, electronics and automotive production, in industrial robot and machine tending cells.
Four industries, one feeding system
Medical & Pharmaceutical
Cleanroom feeding of caps, closures, tubes and delicate components.
See the applicationPackaging & Plastic Components
Feeding moulded parts straight off the press to robots and downstream lines.
See the applicationElectronics & Precision Components
Small pins, clips and machined parts presented reliably for pick and place.
See the applicationAutomotive & Technical
Multi-part feeding of clips, fasteners and small metal components.
See the applicationCleanroom-ready, gentle on delicate parts.
Medical components are frequently small, delicate or supplied in a cleanroom environment, exactly where a vibratory track struggles. FlexiBowl separates and presents caps, closures, tube fittings and medical housings without vibration, and an ISO Class 5 cleanroom bundle is available on the FB 500, 650 and 800.
- Feeding caps, closures and medical housings into FlexiBowl 500 systems
- Vision inspection of moulded medical components
- Cleanroom disc surfaces and stainless contact parts
- ARS report a fully automated system feeding silicone blood-line tubing and caps for a medical assembly line, in partnership with Epson SCARA robots
Straight off the press, straight to the robot.
Moulded caps, closures and small plastic parts often arrive in bulk with no fixed orientation. FlexiBowl separates and presents them directly to a robot cell, removing the part-specific tooling a vibratory bowl would need for every new component.
- Removing plastic moulded parts directly from injection moulding machines
- Sorting left and right handed plastic components
- Handling delicate silicone or flexible polymer parts
- High speed robotic placement onto downstream assembly lines
Small parts, presented reliably.
Pins, clips and small machined components are exactly the parts that jam or tangle in a vibratory track. FlexiBowl’s disc motion and vision separate them individually, so a robot always picks a part lying in a usable orientation.
- Robotic loading and unloading of small machined parts
- Vision inspection of precision components
- Flexible feeding of small parts using FlexiBowl 350e and 650
- Automated gauging of critical dimensions
Multiple parts, one feeder.
Automotive and technical lines often run several clip, fastener or seal variants through the same station. The Multiple Parts Feeding option divides the disc into independent sectors, so up to six component types can be fed from one unit, each from its own bulk hopper.
- Feeding small metal clips and fasteners using FlexiBowl
- Precision robotic placement into crimping and sealing machines
- Optimised cycle timing between robot and production machine
- Multi-part feeding on the FB 500, 650 and 800, assessed case by case
Discuss an automotive application Multi-part feeding option →
Assembly, welding and decoration
FlexiBowl also feeds parts into ultrasonic welding nests, CNC machine tending cells and pad printing or laser marking fixtures, wherever a part needs to be presented to a robot in a known orientation.
Ultrasonic welding
FlexiBowl 350e feeding small plastic components into welding nests, then retrieving finished assemblies.
CNC machine tending
Loading raw workpieces and unloading finished parts, including deburring cell integration.
Pad printing & marking
Precision placement into pad printing fixtures and laser marking for traceability, alongside Tampoprint printing technologies.
Wherever a part needs to be presented in a known position
Send us your part.
Tell us what you make and how many variants you run. We will tell you whether FlexiBowl is the right fit, and which model and options suit it.
Discuss your applicationOr call 1300 768 826 or email info@comtec.com.au