FEATURE Sensors
D
D-Scientifi c is a fast-growing sensor manufacturer, located in Fareham on the south coast of the UK. The company’s
products are used in many diff erent applications from industrial gas safety to carbon monoxide detectors in the home – every sensor it makes has the potential to save a life. One of its key selling points is that its sensors do not leak during their lifetime. In recent years, the company has invested heavily in automation, to increase productivity, whilst achieving the highest levels of accuracy and repeatability to ensure integrity.
“The last few years have been amazing at DD-Scientifi c. We’ve gone from strength to strength – adding new faces with new ideas, and new ways of working that have really shaken things up. We’ve invested heavily in robotics, including a pin welding robot that enables us to weld three times as many pins as before, all identical,” said Rob White, Sales Director at DD-Scientifi c.
Manufacturing sensors During the sensor manufacturing process, DD-Scientifi c uses a specialised two-part epoxy to seal the pin heads – a fundamental step to prevent the sensors from leaking. The company was initially mixing, metering and dispensing the epoxy by hand, a time-consuming process that introduces operator variance. DD-Scientifi c identifi ed that the process could be improved with automation, and contacted Intertronics for support with the upgrade. After working with DD-Scientifi c to understand the details of its application, Intertronics recommended and supplied several Preefl ow eco-DUO precision metering, mixing and dispensing systems, and integrated them with Fisnar dispensing robots. The two-component precision volumetric, positive displacement system uses a progressive cavity pump principle to achieve accuracy of ±1%, > 99% of the time.
34 April 2022 | Automation “We have an excellent relationship with
Intertronics, where they understand our goals, are knowledgeable and experienced in automated dispensing technology and have backed us up throughout the process,” said White. With the new equipment, DD-Scientifi c can deposit the right amount of metered and mixed epoxy, in the right place every time, improving productivity whilst mitigating the rate of failure. With a throughput of 1.5 million sensors a year, all with a minimum of two pins to seal, the time saved by removing the manual processes equates to 23 days a year. DD-Scientifi c has moved the fi ve people involved in the manual process into more valuable areas of the business. DD-Scientifi c also automated some of the next steps on the line. Because bubbles or fl aws can form in the epoxy during the 14-hour curing process, a robot-based camera system visually checks each sensor, automatically handling batches of up to 400, and physically picks and rejects any with suspect quality. Further robots are involved in handling the electrode heat seal, and sorting the sensors as a pass or fail once they have been tested against their target gas.
“It’s absolutely vital that our sensors don’t leak. If a sensor breaks, it can take
out a much larger instrument. We take pride in supplying our customers with the absolute best equipment, to support them with their life-saving technology, be it an oxygen sensor on an incubator for a new- born baby or a carbon monoxide sensor in someone’s home” said White.
Future goals DD-Scientifi c’s long-term goal is to further improve productivity and throughput by investing in automation in key areas of the production process, from production to testing and packaging. With the technology investment so far, the company can now produce a potentially life-saving gas sensor every seven seconds. “There is a real buzz in the air at DD- Scientifi c. The team is clearly committed to being the best in their fi eld. Equipped with an automated, volumetric dispensing process, DD-Scientifi c can maintain its clear competitive advantage and increase its throughput, all while making time and resource savings. I’m excited to see what the company does next,” said Matt Baseley, Technical Sales Executive at Intertronics.
CONTACT:
Intertronics
www.intertronics.co.uk
automationmagazine.co.uk
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54
