A modular contactless feeder for microparts

This paper describes the development of a feeder for mini and micro parts. A complete study of a feeding method based on electrostatic fields is presented. Through a theoretical analysis and experimental results the optimized configuration of the feeder is proposed, shown and discussed. The performances of possible alternative configurations are quantitatively compared according to the variation of the process parameters. In addition the paper presents a flexible and reconfigurable system based on standard modules easy to be linked by rapid set up operations.