How to Design Parts That can Be Easily Picked Up
1. Parts shall not be either too small or too heavy, too slippery or too viscious
Parts shall be of proper dimensions so that operators or robot arms can catch them and assemble them easily, not too small or too heavy. The easier the parts can be picked up, the smoother the assembly will be, the higher the efficiency will be. Or else, special auxiliary tools are needed to assist to pick up the parts, then the assembly efficiency will be lowered down increasingly.
2. Design a special trait for easy catch
If the parts are very hard to be picked up due to their dimensions, then additional traits can be added on the parts while designing, like edgefold etc. In the graphic below, the parts are too thin to be caught and assembled in the original design. In the improved design, an edgefold was added so that the parts were much easier to be picked up and assembled.
3. Parts shall have no sharp edges or angles
Special attentions shall be paid to following issues. First, parts shall have no sharp edges or angles, or else, they may do harm to operators or consumers. Second, sharp edges or angles may damage the other products' appearance or important parts. Thus, product designers shall change the sharp edges or angles to be rounded when they design parts.
Tags: Prototype   CNC machining    Injection Molding    Urethane Molding    The Standardization of Parts