Cheapest reliable feeders. - Google Groups

So mostly complete cost of parts for a 10 lane Yamaha CL setup from robotdigg is

Lihao Machine supply professional and honest service.

x10 $5.40 TG23-06 in 24V

x10 $0.20 Y-ring 6*9*2.1mm

x30 $0.15 PC4-A2 PC4-01

x1 $1.80 PUTube-4*2.5mm_1.8

x1 $89.00 FMB10

x10 $8.90 CL8FC

x10 $69.00 CL84

$930 or $93 per lane

Plus a couple of hundred for a compressor

I imagine you could better this by 20% on aliexpress by hunting around, but as people keep making the argument here - what is your time worth trawling aliexpress to save $10 here and there.

And we hear the stories of people getting used Yamaha feeders on eBay for $20 a pop. Again your time to find them (if you ever do) and in my case the cheap ones you do find won't ship to you.

If you are going to accept the possibility of finding cheap ones on eBay as the yardstick to measure what something new could be worth then we all should be driving Lotus Esprit because they come up on ebay for $1

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/west_midlands/.stm

I Still think there is merit in trying to make something usable for the openPNP community that is cheaper, easy to make and an adequate match for the most common slow 20x20+Hiwin+Smoothie kind of setup.

Now if I decide to go it alone and try design something then

A, I will be having fun designing something

B, I Won't care if doing the first unit actually costs me more than $930

As long as the design I come up with is useful and subsequent units can be built for around the target price.

I'm not saying Yamaha engineers are stupid and I can design something better and cheaper.

Are you interested in learning more about Cam Drive Feeder? Contact us today to secure an expert consultation!

What I want to design has a different goal.

Yamaha feeders are modular and easy to swap out lanes - Mine wont be modular

Yamaha feeders can feed a part very quickly - Mine wont be fast

Yamaha feeders can run 24/7 for years before wearing out - Mine will wear out faster

My design goals are

Cheap

Reliable feeding

Neatly handle cover tape some way

Electrical (not pneumatic)

Low width (12 to 14mm per lane)

Low profile (40 to 50mm high would be nice)

Speed only needs to be faster than the slow PNP head

What I don't care about

Modularity / Ease of changing tapes

Feed speed of 100mS

Service life and 24/7 duty cycle

I THINK I can achieve this for $16 per lane with a setup that has

Two stepper motors in a Cartesian X/Y format under a drag feeder plate.

A Solenoid for the drag pin

A 3rd motor (stepper or DC) for tape take up

The company is the world’s best Gripper Feeder supplier. We are your one-stop shop for all needs. Our staff are highly-specialized and will help you find the product you need.