As industrial demand for reduced overhead costs and increased efficiency grows, so too does the demand for manufacturing process and factory automation. Factory automation helps manufacturers to increase production rates, material efficiency, worker safety, flexibility, and more, all while bringing down overall costs.For almost any industrial process, conveyors are one of the most crucial components of a comprehensive factory automation system. mk North America is a leader in industrial automation, providing modular pallet conveyor systems, belt conveyors, sanitary conveyors, and more including custom conveyor design to meet specific demands.

VersaMove Pallet Conveyor Systems for Factory Automation

Among mk’s most popular products, VersaMove conveyors are modular pallet conveyor systems that come in three configurations: the VersaMove Standard, VersaMove Plus, and VersaMove Ultra.Highly versatile and useful for a variety of industrial applications, VersaMove pallet transfer systems are ideal for factory automation. The SRF-P 1010 and ZRF-P1010, under the Standard configuration, are respectively well-suited for accumulation and indexing applications, each with pallet loads of up to 80 lbs. The VersaMove Ultra’s SRF-P 2012, meanwhile, is designed for the creation of heavy-duty systems capable of carrying as much as 700 lbs. per pallet.Combined with conveyor system modules like pallet lift and locates, lift and rotates, and right angle pallet transfers, these pallet transfer systems are capable of a variety of factory automation tasks as diverse as quality control, building automation, general material handling, and more.

Other Factory Automation Conveyor Systems

Flat belt, cleated belt, modular plastic belt, and other conveyors made with mk aluminum t-slot extrusion create even more possibilities for modern factory automation. The MBF-P 2040.02 is a modular plastic belt conveyor designed for applications involving heavy material handling such as general manufacturing, as well as those requiring contact with high temperatures. Special conveying applications requiring positioning or loading of products are well-served by the ZRF-P 2040.02, an attachment timing belt conveyor designed for indexing applications.

What is “thermal adhesive bond”?

A joining method to fastening light weight fibrous material. The plastic boss (TSSD) can be installed with or without a pilot hole When setting, embedded fibers are exposed and they fuse with the TSSDØ During the short cool-down time, the liquid plastic co-mingles with the embedded fibers then cools down and creates a “thermal adhesive bond” Setting process is semi or fully automated. The TSSD can be used as a screw boss (for the Ejot DELTA PT® screw) or directly as a fastening elementApplications:  Automotive & Truck Transportation  White Goods (alternative to nuts, bolts, insets etc. ) Furniture ( new material designs, cabinets )  Display & Lightweight Construction  LED and solar lighting (attaching voltaic cells )  Signage (attaching lighting packages )  Packaging (tamperproof and solid )  Aerospace interiors ( Galleys, seats, dividing walls)  Recreational vehicles ( RV, campers etc)

Back-lit conveyors provide additional lighting to a conveyor line, shining a light up on to the product from below. These systems can be extremely useful in vision inspection systems, to assist in robot pick and place applications, and any place workers on the production line require a visual enhancement of the product. mk North America offers back-lit belt conveyors in a variety of sizes, ideal for a wide range of applications.

Conveyor Construction

Back-lit conveyors from mk are designed using their most popular aluminum frame flat belt conveyor, the GUF-P 2000. Because the back-lit conveyors are based on the GUF-P 2000, there are nearly limitless configurations using the wide variety of drive and idler options from mk.nn

Light Panel Options

LED light panels are used in the construction of these conveyors to provide a long lasting, bright and flicker-free illumination source. Many of these light panels offer a luminance of 5500K. The back-lit conveyor brochure from mk North America boasts seven different light panel sizes with a daylight color scheme. In addition, mk has recently been able to expand their offering of back-lit options due to developments in the low profile light panel industry and in the availability of illuminated film products. These conveyors are now highly customizable to meet the needs of each particular application.New light panels come in a variety of colors including red, green and blue. When combined with the variety of translucent belt colors from mk there are many background color options available to the customer. Custom light panels can also be sourced. These panels come in a greater variety of sizes than what is shown in the brochure and allow for features, such as, donut or triangular shapes.

Tying It All Together – An Engineered Solution

mk protects all light panels within the frame of the conveyor by covering them with a clear, anti-static polycarbonate slider bed. The light panels are further integrated into the frame design allowing for sleek wiring and easy access to on/off switches. The seamless integration also allows for quick access to the light panel for maintenance or servicing.Because back-lit conveyors from mk are based on the GUF-P 2000 series belt conveyor, the customer is able to have the conveyor fuished with a variety of accessories to meet their particular needs. Motors are available in single and three phase voltages and can come complete with controllers, cords and plugs. Conveyor supports or stands can also be supplied, as well as custom mounting for integration into existing equipment or bases. mk also offers a wide variety of side rails, which can be used to contain product or to funnel product over the light panel.Like all conveyors from mk, mk back-lit conveyors are fully assembled and tested prior to shipping. This ensures fast and easy integration into your existing workflow with little downtime.

10 Year Warranty

mk North America’s motto is “better products. better solutions.” In living up to this motto we feel that our warranty should reflect our dedication to bringing you the best possible products and solutions. Therefore, we are pleased to announce our new 10 Year Limited Warranty. We believe in our products and solutions, and this warranty is just another way to supporting that. All of our conveyors are engineered and built to last, assembled prior to shipping ensuring our customers a smooth installation.

• mk will repair or replace any defective parts. Normal wear is not warranted.
• Equipment manufactured by others is not covered in this warranty.
• mk will warrant to the original purchaser against defects in workmanship and material under normal use, proper maintenance and cleaning.
• Unauthorized modifications or the use of non-mk replacement parts and building components voids the warranty.
• mk is not responsible for labor, freight, duties or other associated costs associated with the defective parts, this includes the return of defective parts to mk.

mk North America does not warranty loss or damage to equipment, product or production, income or profits; caused by any defects in the mk equipment.mk North America does not warranty for merchantability of fitness for a particular purpose; UNLESS IT IS AGREED TO BY MK AND THE CUSTOMER IN WRITING PRIOR TO PLACEMENT OF ORDER. See our 10 Year Warranty for complete details.

How To: Handle Micro Fasteners

Devices and technology are getting smaller. Even with growing screen sizes, internal components are constantly getting thinner. Space is a premium inside digital consumer devices. So what holds these devices together? In some situations these devices are held together with clips internally molded into key components, but this often results in a device that is difficult, if not impossible to disassemble without causing cosmetic damage. The solution to this issue comes in the form of micro fasteners. These fasteners can be as small as 1mm in diameter, but they are not a simply scaled-down version of their larger counterparts. As fasteners are downsized to lengths as short as two millimeters with thread sizes as small as M1.0, issues related to materials, tight tolerances, and torque control become magnified. Installation of micro fasteners poses the next set of challenges. With such tight tolerances and micro screw sizes, installation system accuracy must be increased when producing integral components of the feeding and insertion devices used to work with these fasteners. For feeding equipment, accuracy and adjustability are key factors in their performance. All Weber Micro feeding solutions come equipped with micro adjusting escapement systems that allow for extremely accurate positioning between the escapement and track position. This is one of the major contributors to the accuracy and reliability of our precision micro feeding technologies. Other factors that don’t normally affect screwfeeding applications come into play are materials, mass and electromagnetic or electrostatic fields. Standard feeding applications typically use what’s called a coil based vibrating solenoid partnered with a set of angled leaf springs to produce vertical and radial vibration causing the fasteners to move around the feeder bowl.