509: Mylar Sticker Debris

Corning Inc. is a ceramics company that makes diesel particulate filters. These filters are very brittle throughout the manufacturing process. These filters are picked up by a robot tooling and centered on a table, which is called the justification process, before being partially filled with cement. When the robot is completing the centering process, the tooling repeatedly grabs and releases the filter. As it releases, debris from the outer layer of the part falls onto the pattern sticker, which is used to create a seal with the robot tooling. This debris creates a problem for the filling process, due to the seal being compromised by the debris. 

We created a design to catch the debris before it falls onto the pattern sticker. As the robot encloses the filter, our design covers most of the quarter-inch gap between the robot’s tooling and the filter. The debris then falls from the filter onto our design, keeping it away from the sealing zone on the pattern sticker. Our design is a simple and effective solution within a complicated manufacturing process. It has no moving parts and employs a minimum amount of materials, lowering the cost of the entire design. Our design’s effectiveness is proven by its ability at catching debris and ensuring a proper seal between the tooling and the sticker.