Nova Stacker Systems
For customers who need to enhance productivity and want to automate the collection and sorting of wires as they are processed, Spectrum can integrate linear wire stackers of various lengths as part of their CAPRIS or Nova system. This speeds up the downstream handling and sorting of wires prior to stripping, crimping and connector make up.
Processed wires pass from the wire marker into the stacker and drop into the stacker collection tray. The stacker senses the wire end as it exits the marker and ensures that wires are collected with the wire first ends grouped together for further processing. This means that the stacker can collect a complete group of wires associated with a connector, ensuring that all the wire ends are physically grouped together. On completion the operator can then grasp the whole bundle and loop it into a single coil and apply a tie. The wire first ends are thus conveniently grouped together ready for handling during the subsequent stripping and crimping processes.
By integrating Nova multi-station dereeler, ASL and stacker modules, a fully automatic system can be configured that enables jobs to be processed by connector. In this mode the system can order and process jobs by connector, i.e. after the operator has selected a particular job file, the system will automatically select all the required wires and cables necessary to make up a specific connector, process them, marking, measuring and cutting them to length and then placing them in the stacker with their wire ends grouped together. As different wires and cables are required to make up a particular connector, the Nova ASL will index and select the wires and automatically set them up on the system. The operator only has to collect the completed group of wires and cables from the stacker tray; no other manual handling or set up is required.
For the manufacture of complex wire harnesses for aerospace and other similar applications, it is not usually practical to produce wires in large batches, as might be the case in the automotive industry. As a result wires are processed individually as single segments and collected together into groups related to a particular connector before subsequent processing. By its nature, the individual production of many different wire segments and sorting into individual connector groups is very labour intensive. The use of systems employing automatic selection and loading and subsequent sorting of wires with a stacker offers the opportunity for significant reduction in touch labour and a consequent increase in productivity.
