You can create and jog a slat conveyor, where the conveyor is composed of many
identical slats.
Some slats can be modified to connect to an assembly that supports a workpiece.
The path that the slats follow around the conveyor is modeled as a closed-loop curve, and
each slat has a set of connection points that connect to the curve. An assembly attached to a
slat can have additional joints and submechanisms.
You can define a single slat and the system populates the entire conveyor with this single
definition.
Ensure that the slat and conveyor data is prepared to meet the requirements described
below.
For each slat, create axis systems to create the connections between both neighboring
slats (revolute joints) and connections to the curve (point on curve joints).
Note:
The two sets of axis systems can be coincident, where the revolute and point curve
might be at the same location.
Use the following standard names for the axis systems to facilitate the conveyor
creation, as the system automatically finds and selects them:
Z is used as the rotation axis.
Connection behavior:
Z is normal to the curve, and pointing outward.
X is tangent to the curve.
For custom slats, create mount ports required for tool mounting.
For the conveyor, package the following under a product assembly node:
Any supporting structures, such as rails, gears, and mounting supports. (This is
optional.)
The curve (as a closed loop) that represents the path of the conveyor.
A unique instance of each type of slat to be used in the conveyor.
Create the Slat Conveyor
Define and jog a slat conveyor with custom slats and tooling attached.
From the Conveyor section of the action bar,
click Add Section and select a
conveyor in the work area.
The Conveyor Section Type panel appears.
Select Slat in the Conveyor Section Type
panel and click Next.
The New Slat Selection panel appears, and you are
prompted to select the conveyor curve.
In the work area,
select the conveyor curve and click Finish.
The Selected curve is confirmed:
Upon clicking Finish, the Section
Properties dialog box appears.
Enter a Section name, Reference Point,
and Default Speed for the section.
Reference Point represents the zero position of the conveyor.
This value can be entered manually in the dialog box, or by dragging the green arrow
manipulator in the work area.
Default Speed defines the speed at which the conveyor travels
within the context of a simulation.
Z Offset Angle rotates to the proper the slat up direction.
This parameter is useful for applications such as cresent
conveyors, which require slats to be rotated. This angle value can be entered
manually, or you can click the arrow in the work area
to rotate around the travel direction in 90 degree increments.
Click Reverse Direction to flip the conveyor’s travel
direction. You can also click the green arrow manipulator in the work area.
Direction affects the orientation and the order of the slats in the conveyor. The
conveyor is built by placing the slats behind the referential point on the curve with
a specific orientation based on the current conveyor direction. The tools mounted on
the slats also change orientation as a result of changing the conveyor direction.
From the tree, select the standard slat to replicate across the curve.
The selected slat appears in the Selected product reference.
If the standard names for the axis systems of the slat are used (as described in
Data Preparation,
above), Connection Points is populated with the axis systems
defined for the slat.
If the standard naming has not been used, each axis system must be selected manually.
Any current selection can be cleared by clicking in the
respective field.
The total number of generated slats and other curve related information appears under
Computed Slats.
Click Apply to preview the selected slat populated on the
conveyor curve.
To replace specific standard slats on the conveyor with custom slats, click for Slat Type and select another slat in the tree.
The selected slat appears as the current Slat Type.
Define the Range/Pitch and Index where
the custom slat will appear.
Custom slats can be added or removed as needed. They replace specific standard slats
based on the specified distribution pattern defined by the
Range/Pitch and Index parameters. Example: 12 standard slats Apply custom slat 1, replacing the second slat in a Range of 6, using an Index
of 2 Apply custom slat 2, replacing the fifth slat in a Range of 6, using an Index
of 5
Upon selecting a custom slat, Range/Pitch appears in red
to indicate that a value must be specified before the custom slat can be applied:
Range/Pitch defines the number of slats that the total
number of slats will be divided into. For example, if the conveyor has 70 total slats,
entering a value of 7 results in 10 successive sets of 7 slats.
Because the
Range/Pitch value is typically constant for a slat conveyor,
the field becomes locked upon entering a value to avoid any unintentional changes.
Click to unlock it when necessary.
Index specifies the
location within the Range/Pitch that the current custom slat
will replace the existing standard slat. Upon selecting an index, Slat
Type is updated with the selected index:
Repeat Step 9 to create as many custom slats as are necessary, and click
OK when finished.
The Section Properties dialog box closes, and the custom slats
appear on the conveyor (shown below in different colors).
You can edit the color of a slat type by right-clicking a slat and selecting
Properties, followed by the Graphic
tab of the Properties dialog box.
From the Motion Controller section of the action bar,
click Jog Mechanism and
select the conveyor to jog it.
Attach Tools to the Conveyor Slats
You can attach tools to specific slat types of the conveyor.
From the Conveyor section of the action bar,
click Attach to Conveyor and select a
conveyor in the work area.
The Attach to Conveyor dialog box appears, and a list of
available custom slats appears in the Tools tab.
For each custom slat that you want to mount a tool on, select it in the Tools list
and pick the tool in the tree.
The tool selection will appear next to the slat in the Tool to
attach column, and will appear as the Selected
Tool.
The mount port of the slat and the base port of the tool are identified and appear in
Mount location and Base location,
respectively. If more than one mount port or base port is defined, the first one is
preselected. You can select another port from the list.
Click OK to attach the tool and close the dialog box.
The selected tool is replicated for each instance of the corresponding slat.
Attach Manveyors to the Primary Conveyor
You can attach manveyors to a primary conveyor. The movement of the side conveyors is
then controlled by the primary conveyor.
Before you begin: Create three slat conveyors as described above consisting of a
primary center conveyor and two side conveyors.
From the Conveyor section of the action bar,
click Attach to Conveyor and select a
conveyor in the work area.
The Attach to Conveyor dialog box appears.
Select the Manveyors tab, and select the manveyors in the work area.
Manveyors are added to the Manveyors tab as they are selected.
Selected manveyors can be removed from the list by clicking Remove
manveyor.
Click OK to close the dialog box.
You can now jog the primary conveyor and view the manveyors moving with it.
The manveyors can be jogged indiviually by selecting them (instead of the primary
conveyor) after clicking Jog Mechanism.
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