Diagnostic kit flexible assembly system and method of using the same
An automatic diagnostic medical test kit assembly system includes an assembly line having a conveyor; a return line parallel to the assembly line and having a conveyor running in a direction opposite of that of the conveyor of the assembly line; a plurality of pallets carrying components of the medical test kit during assembly; a plurality of work stations disposed along the assembly line to perform assembly steps on the components of the medical test kit; a start end pallet transfer mechanism disposed at the start end of the assembly line and the return line to transfer the pallets from the return line to the assembly line; and a finish end pallet transfer mechanism disposed at the finish end of the assembly line and the return line to transfer the pallets from the assembly line to the return line.
The present invention is in the field of assembly or manufacturing systems and methods for the production of diagnostic medical test kits.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTIONAssembly or manufacturing systems and methods have been devised in the past for producing diagnostic medical test kits (e.g., at-home pregnancy test kit). However, the inventor is not aware of a diagnostic medical test kit assembly system and method that is automatic, high-throughput, in-line, and flexible in nature to allow for families of related diagnostic medical test kits or different products to be assembled with the same system with minimum manual product changeover time.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTIONAccordingly, an aspect of the invention involves a method of assembling a diagnostic medical test kit. The method includes the following steps:
a) providing an automatic assembly system including an assembly line and a parallel return line, the assembly line and the return line including conveyors running in opposite directions and a start end and a return end, a plurality of pallets carrying the components of the medical test kit during assembly, a plurality of work stations disposed along the assembly line to perform assembly steps on the components of the medical test kit, a start end pallet transfer mechanism disposed at the start end of the assembly line and the return line to transfer the pallets from the return line to the assembly line, and a finish end pallet transfer mechanism disposed at the finish end of the assembly line and the return line to transfer the pallets from the assembly line to the return line;
b) providing a plurality of empty pallets on the conveyor of the return line;
c) moving the empty pallets on the conveyor of the return line to the start end of the return line;
d) transferring the empty pallets from the start end of the return line to the start end of the assembly line with the start end pallet transfer mechanism;
e) moving the pallets on the conveyor of the assembly line to the plurality of work stations and using the pallets as carriers for a partially completed and completed diagnostic medical test kit;
f) assembling the components of the diagnostic medical test kit at the plurality of work stations;
g) transferring completed diagnostic medical test kits from the pallets, producing empty pallets;
h) transferring faulty diagnostic medical test kits from the pallets, producing empty pallets;
i) moving the empty pallets on the convey of the assembly line to the finish end of the assembly line;
j) transferring the empty pallets from the finish end of the assembly line to the start end of the return line;
k) repeating steps c-j above.
Another aspect of the invention involves an automatic diagnostic medical test kit assembly system including an assembly line having a start end, a return end, a conveyor running in a direction; a return line parallel to the assembly line and having a start end, a return end, and a conveyor running in a direction opposite of that of the conveyor of the assembly line; a plurality of pallets carrying components of the medical test kit during assembly; a plurality of work stations disposed along the assembly line to perform assembly steps on the components of the medical test kit; a start end pallet transfer mechanism disposed at the start end of the assembly line and the return line to transfer the pallets from the return line to the assembly line; and a finish end pallet transfer mechanism disposed at the finish end of the assembly line and the return line to transfer the pallets from the assembly line to the return line.
Further objects and advantages will be apparent to those skilled in the art after a review of the drawings and the detailed description of the preferred embodiments set forth below.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
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The system 10 and method are used to automatically assembly a “stick” type medical test kit (hereinafter “test kit”) 18 comprised of an elongated, narrow base 20, one or more test strips 22, a wick 24, a cover 26, and a cap 28.
The system 10 is a palletized, intermittent-synchronous, side-by-side system 10 where the work path is linear and the assembly of the test kit 18 is performed on the base 20 (piece that will become eventual product) carried within a pallet 50 (
The system 10 preferably includes multiple system modules 85 that may be added to or removed from the system during product changeover. The queuing conveyor 90 is part of a return line and delivers pallets 50 from a finish end 100 to an opposite start end 110. The queuing conveyor 90 is a linear return accumulating conveyor driven using a variable-speed continuous motion (brushless) DC motor.
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A visual inspection work station 180 utilizes a vision system to inspect the cut test strip 22 in the base 20 for a black (or other color) strip, indicating a “bad” or “rejected” portion of strip material. This black (or other color) strip may be applied to the card stock or magazine of test strips 22 at the time of fabrication. The vision system also inspects the subassembly for missing or misaligned strips and/or wicks 24.
The cover load work station 200 is similar in construction and in use to the base loading station 150, and, therefore will only be briefly described. Elements of the cover load work station 200 are identified with the same reference numbers as those of the base loading station 150. The cover load work station 200 includes a flexible part feeder 151 for bulk feeding and singulation of the cover 26. The covers 26 are manually bulk loaded into the elevated hopper 153, and the flexible part feeder 151 presents the covers 26 to the robot/vision system 152, which captures a cover 26 using vacuum force and the cover 26 is placed on the base 20 in the pallet 50. The robot/vision system 152 loads a single cover 26 per cycle.
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An eject defective product work station 240 includes a pick-and-place mechanism with a vacuum head to lift the test kit 18 from the pallet 50 and place it on an ejector shoot if it is determined that the test kit 18 is defective. The defective test kits 18 are ejected into a “reject” bulk storage container.
An eject good product work station 250 includes a pick-and-place mechanism with a vacuum head to lift the test kit 18 from the pallet 50 and place it on an ejector shoot if it is determined that the test kit 18 is good condition. The good test kits 18 are ejected into a “good” bulk storage container.
A photo-optic sensor may be used to verify removal of the test kit 18 from the pallet 50 to ensure that a pallet 50 with base 20 is not transferred to the queuing conveyor 90.
The palletized, intermittent-synchronous, side-by-side system 10 will now be described in use. Components are manually bulk loaded into the respective hoppers of the respective stations and/or otherwise provided at the respective stations. The pallet 50 is automatically loaded onto the queuing conveyor 90 at finish end 100 and is shuttled to the opposite start end 110 via the queuing conveyor 120. The pallet transfer mechanism 130 transfers the pallet 50 from the queuing conveyor 90 at the start end 110 to the indexing conveyor 140 at the start end 110. The indexing conveyor 140 shuttles the pallet 50 from the start end 110 to the finish end 100 in a opposite direction than the movement of the queuing conveyor 90. The pallet 50 is first shuttled via the indexing conveyor 140 to the base loading work station 150, where the base 20 is loaded into the recess or nesting 62 on the upper-side 54 of the pallet 50. The pallet 50 with base 20 is then shuttled via the indexing conveyor 140 to the test strip insertion work station 160. At this station, the test strip 22 is cut and placed into the base 20. The pallet 50 with base 20 is then shuttled via the indexing conveyor 140 to the wick loading work station 170, where the wick 24 is placed in the base 20. The pallet 50 with base 20 is then shuttled via the indexing conveyor 140 to the visual inspection work station 180, where the test strip 22 is visually inspected by a vision system. The pallet 50 with base 20 is then shuttled via the indexing conveyor 140 to the cover load work station 200 and then shuttled to the pneumatic press station 210, where the cover 26 is placed on the base 20 in the pallet 50 and then subsequently pneumatically pressed onto the base 20. The pallet 50 is then shuttled to the assembly verification work station 230, where a height check of the final product is performed. The pallet 50 with base 20 is then shuttled via the indexing conveyor 140 to the cap load and assembly station 220, where the cap 28 is placed onto the test kit 18 assembly to form the final product. The pallet 50 with final product is then shuttled via the indexing conveyor 140 to the eject defective product work station 240, where the final product is ejected from the indexing conveyor 140 into a “reject” bulk storage container if the final product is determined to be defective from the height check. The pallet 50 with final product is then shuttled via the indexing conveyor 140 to the eject good product work station 250, where the final product is ejected from the indexing conveyor 140 into a “good” bulk storage container. The pallet 50 without the final product is then shuttled via the indexing conveyor 140 to the pallet transfer mechanism 260 at the finish end 100, where the pallet 50 is transferred over to the queuing conveyor 90 to start the process over. The pallet transfer mechanism 260 is pneumatically driven and transfers the pallets 50 from the finish end 100 of the indexing conveyor 140 to the finish end 100 of the queuing conveyor 90. Bulk removal of assembled test kits 18 from the “good” bin is performed manually.
All assembly functions are performed in a “one-up” configuration, where one assembly operation occurs per machine cycle. One or more control systems control the conveyors of the system, the shuttle transfer mechanisms, and the work stations. The system 10 may include a user interface 270 for interacting with the one or more control systems.
The system 10 can be used with different pallet 50 configurations for different product formats. Work stations can be easily added to the system 10 or removed from the system 10 with minimal manual changeover time for running different product formats. Further, modules 85 may be easily added or removed to the system 10 depending on the product format. Manual adjustments during product changeover may be made using locking micrometer devices, having readable scales for quick reference. The system 10 may utilize slotted adjustments with a maximum of two set positions. The above allows families of related products or different products to be assembled with the system 10 and method with minimum manual product changeover time.
It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that still further changes and modifications in the actual concepts described herein can readily be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the following claims.
Claims
1. A method of assembling a diagnostic medical test kit, the method comprising:
- a) providing an automatic assembly system including an assembly line and a parallel return line, the assembly line and the return line including conveyors running in opposite directions and a start end and a return end, a plurality of pallets carrying the components of the medical test kit during assembly, a plurality of work stations disposed along the assembly line to perform assembly steps on the components of the medical test kit, a start end pallet transfer mechanism disposed at the start end of the assembly line and the return line to transfer the pallets from the return line to the assembly line, and a finish end pallet transfer mechanism disposed at the finish end of the assembly line and the return line to transfer the pallets from the assembly line to the return line;
- b) providing a plurality of empty pallets on the conveyor of the return line;
- c) moving the empty pallets on the conveyor of the return line to the start end of the return line;
- d) transferring the empty pallets from the start end of the return line to the start end of the assembly line with the start end pallet transfer mechanism;
- e) moving the pallets on the conveyor of the assembly line to the plurality of work stations and using the pallets as carriers for a partially completed and completed diagnostic medical test kit;
- f) assembling the components of the diagnostic medical test kit at the plurality of work stations;
- g) transferring completed diagnostic medical test kits from the pallets, producing empty pallets;
- h) transferring faulty diagnostic medical test kits from the pallets, producing empty pallets;
- i) moving the empty pallets on the convey of the assembly line to the finish end of the assembly line;
- j) transferring the empty pallets from the finish end of the assembly line to the start end of the return line;
- k) repeating steps c-j above.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein steps c-k are automatically performed.
3. The method of claim 1, further including performing a product changeover by replacing one or more of the work stations along the assembly line with one or more different work stations along the assembly line and replacing the plurality of pallets with a plurality of different pallets.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the above method is performed in a one-up configuration, where one assembly operation occurs per machine cycle.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein at least 3,600 cycles are performed per hour with at least one part produced per cycle.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein the conveyor of the assembly line is an indexing conveyor that is servo-driven and synchronous-intermittent.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the conveyor of the assembly line includes an upper surface with a plurality of cleats, and the pallets include respective recesses that receive the cleats of the conveyor.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein the conveyor of the return line is a variable-speed linear return accumulating conveyor.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein the diagnostic medical test kit includes a base, a test strip, a wick, a cover, and a cap, the plurality of work stations include a base loading station, a test strip insertion station, a wick loading station, a cover load work station, a pneumatic press station, a cap load and assembly station, an assembly verification work station, an eject defective product work station, and an eject good product work station, and assembling the components of the diagnostic medical test kit at the plurality of work stations includes loading the base into the pallet with the base loading station, indexing, cutting, and placing a single test strip into the base with the test strip insertion station, placing the wick in the base with the wick loading station, providing a cover on the base with the cover load work station, snapping the cover to the base with the pneumatic press station, providing a cap on the subassembly with the cap load and assembly station, verifying full assembly of the diagnostic medical test kit with the assembly verification work station, removing rejected diagnostic medical test kits from the pallet with the eject defective product work station, and removing assembled diagnostic medical test kits from the pallet with the eject good product work station.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein the plurality of work stations further include a visual inspection work station, and assembling the components of the diagnostic medical test kit at the plurality of work stations further include inspecting the cut test strip in the base with the visual inspection work station.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the plurality of work stations further include a photo-optic sensor to verify removal of the diagnostic medical test kits from the pallets to ensure that a pallets with diagnostic medical test kits are not transferred to the return line, and assembling the components of the diagnostic medical test kit at the plurality of work stations further include verifying with the photo-optic sensor that the diagnostic medical test kits are removed from the pallets prior to transferring the diagnostic medical test kits to the return line.
12. An automatic diagnostic medical test kit assembly system, comprising:
- an assembly line having a start end, a return end, a conveyor running in a direction;
- a return line parallel to the assembly line and having a start end, a return end, and a conveyor running in a direction opposite of that of the conveyor of the assembly line;
- a plurality of pallets carrying components of the medical test kit during assembly;
- a plurality of work stations disposed along the assembly line to perform assembly steps on the components of the medical test kit;
- a start end pallet transfer mechanism disposed at the start end of the assembly line and the return line to transfer the pallets from the return line to the assembly line; and
- a finish end pallet transfer mechanism disposed at the finish end of the assembly line and the return line to transfer the pallets from the assembly line to the return line.
13. The automatic diagnostic medical test kit assembly system of claim 12, wherein one or more of the work stations along the assembly line are removably replaceable for performing a product changeover by replacing one or more of the work stations along the assembly line with one or more different work stations along the assembly line and the plurality of different pallets are replaceable for replacing the plurality of pallets with a plurality of different pallets for assembling a different product.
14. The automatic diagnostic medical test kit assembly system of claim 12, wherein the automatic diagnostic medical test kit assembly system performs a one-up configuration, where one assembly operation occurs per machine cycle.
15. The automatic diagnostic medical test kit assembly system of claim 12, wherein the automatic diagnostic medical test kit assembly system performs at least 3,600 cycles are performed per hour with at least one part produced per cycle.
16. The automatic diagnostic medical test kit assembly system of claim 12, wherein the conveyor of the assembly line is an indexing conveyor that is servo-driven and synchronous-intermittent.
17. The automatic diagnostic medical test kit assembly system of claim 12, wherein the conveyor of the assembly line includes an upper surface with a plurality of cleats, and the pallets include respective recesses that receive the cleats of the conveyor.
18. The automatic diagnostic medical test kit assembly system of claim 12, wherein the conveyor of the return line is a variable-speed linear return accumulating conveyor.
19. The automatic diagnostic medical test kit assembly system of claim 12, wherein the diagnostic medical test kit includes a base, a test strip, a wick, a cover, and a cap, the plurality of work stations include a base loading station, a test strip insertion station, a wick loading station, a cover load work station, a pneumatic press station, a cap load and assembly station, an assembly verification work station, an eject defective product work station, and an eject good product work station.
20. The automatic diagnostic medical test kit assembly system of claim 12, wherein the plurality of work stations further include a visual inspection work station.
21. The automatic diagnostic medical test kit assembly system of claim 12, wherein the plurality of work stations further include a photo-optic sensor to verify removal of the diagnostic medical test kits from the pallets to ensure that a pallets with diagnostic medical test kits are not transferred to the return line.
Type: Application
Filed: Nov 19, 2003
Publication Date: May 19, 2005
Inventor: David Stroup (El Cajon, CA)
Application Number: 10/718,227