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Valve assembly and testing

Brass valve components go into the drawers once a shift. A six-axis robot picks every part, checks the o-ring, joins the three components, drives two screws with torque control and leak-tests the valve through the full travel of its stem. Each valve is laser-marked, read back and packed in a KLT box. The operator comes by once per shift. Built for FIRST, a manufacturer of valves and actuators in Slovenia.

Watch the machine
  1. The robot comes down to a drawer full of brass valve bodies and lifts one out.
    01Picked from the drawer
  2. A tool presses the stem down into the valve body held in the assembly fixture.
    02Three parts joined
  3. The twin screwdriver comes down on the valve and drives both screws.
    03Screwed, torque recorded
  4. The test head comes down onto the stem of a valve clamped between the two test cylinders.
    04Leak-tested

One visit per shift

The operator fills the drawers and takes the full boxes away. Between those two visits the machine builds, tests, marks and packs on its own, with eight hours of components in the drawers.

4×
The robot between the drawers and the stations.
  1. 01

    Loaded once a shift

    The drawers hold eight hours of components. One visit loads them, and between visits the operator is free for other work.

  2. 02

    Every valve tested

    No sample. Each valve is tested with high-pressure air through the full travel of its stem.

  3. 03

    Every value on record

    Both torques, the test angle, the leak result, the test time and the serial code are stored for every valve.

  4. 04

    Marked and read back

    A laser writes a unique code on each valve, and a camera reads it back before the valve is packed.

From drawer to box

Three brass components go in; a tested, marked valve comes out in a KLT box. Hover over a step to watch it.

  1. Close on the drawer: the gripper comes down between the brass bodies, takes one and lifts it.
    01Part feedingThe operator loads the drawers. A FANUC M-10iD/12 picks every component from them.
  2. The robot holds the component up to the inspection camera and turns it.
    02O-ring inspectionA camera checks every o-ring before the parts go together.
  3. From above: the robot brings a valve to the assembly station and sets it down.
    03AssemblyThe robot joins the three components of the valve.
  4. The twin screwdriver comes down on the valve and drives the two screws.
    04Screwing with torque controlTwo screws are driven automatically. Each torque is checked and recorded.
  5. The robot sets a valve between the two red test cylinders.
    05Leak testHigh-pressure air, while the stem is turned through 380°, so tightness is proved across the whole travel.
  6. The robot holds the valve in the laser station; the mark glows red.
    06Laser marking and OCRA unique code is laser-marked on every valve and read back by a camera.
  7. From above: the gripper sets a finished valve in its place in the KLT box.
    07PackingFinished valves go into KLT boxes. A Cartesian robot moves the full boxes to the rack.

Tested through the full travel

A rotary valve can seal in one position and leak in another. So the test does not stop at one angle.

  1. 01

    Clamped and pressurised

    The valve is clamped between the test cylinders and put under high-pressure air.

  2. 02

    The stem turns 380°

    A head on the stem turns the rotor through its full travel and a little beyond, while the pressure is watched.

  3. 03

    Pass or fail, on record

    The result, the test angle and the test time go into the record of that valve.

4×
One complete test: in, clamped, turned, out.
A table from the machine’s log, one line per valve: the torque of screw 1 and of screw 2, the rotor test angle, the leakage test value, the test time and the serial code.
The rotary valve log on the machine’s screen: one line per valve.

Every part. Every value. On record.

The machine writes a line for every valve it builds. Open the log and you see what each one measured.

  1. 01

    Two torques

    Screw 1 and screw 2, the value each one reached.

  2. 02

    Angle, leak, time

    The angle the rotor was turned through, the leak test result and how long the test took.

  3. 03

    A code and a time

    The unique serial code marked on the valve, and when it was made. One line per valve, ready to export.

100×
Fifty minutes of the cell on its own, from above.

On its own, from above

A ceiling camera watched the cell during its trials at our plant. Fifty minutes of it, sped up a hundred times: the robot picks from the drawer, works the stations and fills the boxes, and nobody comes in.

  1. 01

    Drawers on the left

    Brass bodies laid out in rows, enough for hours.

  2. 02

    Stations around the robot

    Assembly, screwing, leak test and marking, all within the robot’s reach.

  3. 03

    Boxes on the right

    Finished valves go into boxes, and full boxes go to the rack.

One platform, ready to run

Robot, drawers, stations, laser and box handling sit on one base. The machine was built and tested at our plant and went to FIRST in Slovenia as one unit, for a short commissioning on site.

Wide view of the cell: the robot works at the stations behind the drawers of brass bodies.
The stations behind the drawers.
The gripper sets a valve body in the screwing fixture, beside the blue clamp.
Into the screwing fixture.

What a machine like this takes

Three parts, two screws, a pressure test, a code and a camera check for every valve, with the operator coming by once a shift.

  1. 01

    Short cycles, hard problems

    Many parts, many checks, little time per part. We take on that kind of problem and design every move around the cycle your plant needs.

  2. 02

    One robot, every station

    A single six-axis robot feeds every station, so each move, grip and hand-off is tuned until nothing waits for the robot.

  3. 03

    Everything on one platform

    Feeding, assembly, joining, marking, inspection and packing fit on one base. It is built and tested at our plant and leaves as one piece.

  4. 04

    Data from every station

    The machine software is ours. It keeps what each station measured, for every part, and shows it on one screen.

Gallery

The film of the machine in production, and a few more views of it.

Rotary valve assembly and leak test cellWatch on YouTube
From above: the robot swings across the cell with a valve in its gripper.
Across the cell, from above
The robot swings down from the inspection camera with a valve.
Down from the camera
The robot holds a valve in the laser station, a KLT box in the foreground.
At the laser, a box waiting
The gripper sets a valve body in the assembly fixture, a row of brass parts behind it.
Into the assembly fixture
The twin screwdriver on the valve.
The screwdriver
The robot sets a valve between the test cylinders.
Into the test

The machine in brief

Application
Valve assembly, torque-controlled screwing, leak test, laser marking, packing
Solution
Assembly and Quality Control
Customer
FIRST, Slovenia: valves and actuators
Parts
Brass rotary valves, three components each
Robot
FANUC M-10iD/12, six axes
Feeding
Drawers, loaded once per shift
Screwing
Two screws, torque-controlled, each value recorded
Leak test
High-pressure air, stem turned through 380°
Marking
Laser, a unique code per valve, read back by OCR
Packing
KLT boxes; a Cartesian robot moves them to the rack
Operator
One visit per shift (0.5 operator)
Buffer
8 hours of components
Traceability
Every value of every valve on record
Platform
One base, built and tested at our plant, shipped as one unit

Also: final control and packaging

O-rings fitted, every fitting measured, rejects sorted, the good ones packed.

Also: safety seal assembly

Eight stations on one rotary table: clips, plugs, welding, marking and a camera at every step.

Questions we are asked

What does the operator do?

Fills the drawers with components at the start of the shift and takes the full boxes from the rack. The drawers hold eight hours of parts, so one visit per shift is enough.

What is tested?

Tightness, with high-pressure air, while the stem is turned through 380°. A valve that seals in one position and leaks in another is caught.

What is recorded?

For every valve: the torque of each screw, the angle the rotor was turned through, the leak test result, the test time, its serial code and the time it was made.

How is a valve traced?

A laser marks a unique code on it, a camera reads the code back, and the record of that valve is stored under it.

Which valves can it take?

It was built for FIRST’s family of brass rotary valves. Similar valves can follow the same path. Send us your drawings and we will tell you how they would be fed, joined, tested and packed.

How fast is it?

The cycle is set by the valve and by the test it needs. Send us yours and we will tell you the cycle for it.

How is it delivered?

As one unit on its own base, built and tested at our plant first, so the commissioning on site is short.

Send us your part

Every machine starts with the part. Send us your valve or its drawings, what has to be joined, screwed and tested, and how it should be packed, and we will work out the machine with you.

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