Unveiling Precision and Efficiency with MCV4 La Mille
Dimac achieves a remarkable milestone with the limited-edition version of MCV4 La Mille, a concept machine developed in cooperation with ITW Rivex France for the sorting department of their brand-new plant in Ornans. Together, Dimac and ITW Rivex present the premiere of this groundbreaking machine at the upcoming WIRE2024 exhibition in Duesseldorf, scheduled to take place from April 15-19.
Beyond its ergonomic layout and user-friendly software, this high-speed piece of equipment integrates innovative inspection solutions, driven by high-resolution digital cameras and state-of-the-art Artificial Intelligence algorithms.
MCV4 La Mille stands as a testament to the successful partnership between Dimac and ITW Rivex, showcasing the commitment to excellence in the sorting department and setting new standards in the industry.
Key Features:
· Mechanical Precision: MCV4 La Mille ensures consistent high output rates with rapid changeover procedures. Robust feeding rails, featuring integrated pneumatic propulsion circuits, guarantee a jamming-free flow of parts towards the steel rotary table. The table is driven by a brushless hollow motor of the last generation, with an integrated encoder ensuring the accurate triggering of the control stations.
· Interchangeable Rotary Table Dials: The rotary table boasts interchangeable dials with slots, where headed parts are seamlessly fed in. This feature enhances flexibility and adaptability to varying production needs.
· Impressive Speeds: Achieving output rates of up to 700 parts per minute, this machine excels in sorting headed parts ranging from M6 to M8 by 35mm. Non-controlled pieces can be seamlessly re-processed without disrupting the continuous flow of incoming parts.
· Intelligent Defect Recognition: The AI-driven side surface cameras station, positioned at 120° intervals, covers the entire 360° surface of the shank, identifying even the minutest defects in threaded or cylindrical areas.
Performance Optimization:
· Cutting-Edge Technology: Powered by a modern PLC on Ethercat field-bus connected to the vision machine controller, MCV4 La Mille incorporates high-resolution graphic card. The entire system is housed in an IP54 cabinet, with a active coolant system ensuring stability even in challenging environments.
· Compliance with Standards: MCV4 La Mille is developed considering the requirements of the IATF16949 standards for the quality control of fasteners, ensuring adherence to the highest industry standards. Equipped with a side profile measuring camera, MCV4 La Mille guarantees accuracy validated by MSA tests.
· Proprietary Software Platform: Operating under the Windows10® system, MCV4 La Mille is driven by the Dimac proprietary software platform that include the Vision System MCVx, the MCV-PLC system for machine automation and the MCV-AI software for AI recognition. This platform provides an intuitive user interface accessible to operators of all skill levels, featuring essential pop-ups and simple filters for quick programming and recipe creation. It’s designed thinking to temporary workers.
· Data Management - Thanks to the Connectivity Pack, a suite of apps for the machine connection online and remote programming, it is possible to retrieve sorting cycle data, statistics, and measurements in SQL format ready to be exchanged with the company's ERP system.
Ergonomic Design:
· User-Friendly Access: MCV4 La Mille's ergonomic layout ensures the operator's comfort during programming and mechanical setup. A mobile console with a 24-inch color touch LCD, sliding wing-doors for easy access, retractable trolley for NOK box handling, lockers for tools, and stainless-steel dirt removal trays enhance the overall user experience.
· Efficient Output Handling: A driven conveyor belt at the rear side of the machine smoothly carries conforming OK parts out into bins, however ancillary packing machines by Dimac can be seamlessly integrated for automatic box filling and changing-over. Non-conforming parts are efficiently managed, as they are evacuated into segregated NOK boxes housed inside the machine body and extractable by a dedicated trolley. One of the two NOK exits is programmable, allowing isolation of non-conforming parts based on a single inspection criterion selected from the comprehensive list included in the control plan. This meticulous process ensures a seamless workflow, emphasizing the machine's capability to uphold the highest quality standards in fastener production.
Discover unparalleled precision, speed, and user comfort with MCV4 La Mille – a testament to Dimac's commitment to innovation towards a wero defect future, ensuring compliance with CE standards and IATF16949 requirements for quality control in mechanical minute components production.
The partnership between ITW Rivex and Dimac
ITW Rivex France has been one of the most important early international clients of Dimac. The collaboration began in 2006 and was built on mutual trust and recognition of the Italian company's expertise in applied mechanics for fastener production. The roots of this partnership can be traced back to ITW Rivex's need to modernize its 100% inspection and sorting department with state-of-the-art machinery that could ensure high productivity and efficiency 24/7. Dimac was chosen for its adopted mechanical technologies and known previous competence and experience in designing systems for fastener production and manipulation.
The initial projects involved the supply of MCV1 machines, Dimac's best-sellers over the years. These machines were built to last and are still operational after 18 years, even though today they are sorting a limited number of articles with high production volumes. Thanks to the reliability and performance of the first MCV1 machines supplied in 2006, the collaboration evolved with the first MCV4 Star Gate project dated 2008, dedicated to the control of double-threaded headless studs. The machine stood out for its innovative studs feeding system, able to orientate and feed the studs by a carousel system, nicknamed Star Gate, together with the dimensional optical control stations arranged around the table to process two studs simultaneously in their threaded portions all around 360°, ensuring the highest possible productivity. The MCV4 double rate mode has been patented for its easy-setup features.
This machine operated continuously for 10 years. Subsequently, in 2018, it underwent an upgrade in the vision system and PLC controller, incorporating new digital cameras and installing the MCVx2.0 software under the Windows operating system. During this retrofit, a video testimonial was also recorded, available on the Dimac YouTube channel.
A new piece of equipment has been developed in cooperation between Dimac and ITW Rivex France in 2014. A MCV2 slant glass V-Track machine for headed and headless fasteners with Eddycurrent Heat Treatment control station. In 2019 ITW Rivex engaged Dimac to solve the problem of the inspection of a new product, the Griptide® inserts. A revolutionary patented ITW insert with special custom knurling side surface. The project lead to the development of the inspection machine MCV5 Griptide®, a glass plate rotary table version, which incorporates a special surface camera for the Griptide® shape conformity recognition as well as a special Keyence® camera for the inner thread presence detection.
This long-lasting partnership continued with subsequent projects over the last years, the latest of which in 2023 involved new machinery for the brand-new 100% control and sorting department created by ITW Rivex in their modern facility in Ornans.
The volumes of fasteners produced in the new facility demanded the integration of two new MCV4 machines, the limited edition La Mille, and the serial number 1004, the last one equipped with Eddycurrent stations for crack detection and high-speed heat treatment.
MCV4 La Mille will be exhibited at the WIRE 2024 Duesseldorf and delivered after the show and the next MCV4 1004 would be commissioned in July 2024.
