Tooling a vibratory feeder bowl is truly a black art. Indeed, two bowl makers working side-by-side on bowls for the same part may devise two completely different solutions. In this article, feeder bowl manufacturers describe a few tricks of the trade, and offer tips on how assemblers can facilitate the bowl-making process.
Ronald J. Ruhl, sales and marketing manager at Automation Devices Inc. (Fairview, PA), can predict how parts will behave in a vibratory feeder bowl by dropping a handful on a table and analyzing their positions.