Q: What are the pros and cons of an inside tooled feeder bowl?

A: The ‘Low-down’ on Inside Tooled Feeder Bowls...

What is an inside tooled feeder bowl? Which parts are good candidates for inside tooled feeding? What are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of part feeding?

Q: What is an inside tooled feeder bowl?

A: This is a type of vibratory feeder that uses tooling or orienting mechanisms that are inside the bowl walls. The only parts that leave the interior of the bowl are correctly oriented. Parts that do not correctly orient while moving through the tooling are shed back into the center of the bowl for recirculation.

With no option for a return opening from outside the bowl, ‘cascade’ type feeders automatically fall into the inside tooling category. Although the majority of ‘straightwall’ bowls are designed for outside tooling and have a part return opening, they can be inside tooled in certain applications.

Q: Which parts are good candidates for inside tooled feeding?

A: Headed parts like nails, screws or other fasteners are fed very nicely in this type of feeder. Other parts with a relatively simple geometry or a prominent orienting feature may also be fed with an inside tooled bowl.

Q: What are the advantages and disadvantages of this type of feeding?

A: There are several advantages to inside tooled feeding.

Size: Inside tooling is usually more compact in size for tight clearance situations.

Simplicity: The less complicated the tooling, the less to adjust or wear out.

Cost: Part feeders that require less tooling time are less expensive as labor costs make up the lion’s share of the expense of a vibratory feeder.

Adaptability: If your part feeding needs change, it is usually easier to retool an inside tooled bowl. In some cases, the tooling is bolted on and can readily be changed over to fit your new requirements.

There are some significant disadvantages to inside tooling.

Design limitations: Since all tooling is inside, space is limited and not all orienting techniques can be adequately accomplished with inside tooling.

Part limitations: Many parts can only be fed using outside tooling techniques.

Feed rate: Depending on the actual part, an outside tooled feeder can normally achieve superior feed rates.

Part to part contact: Because there is less distance in which to accomplish your orienting goals, in some cases a higher percentage of parts may be recirculated through the bowl, causing more part wear or marking.

Discharge height: Although in most cases this is a minor issue, an outside tooled feeder bowl generally has greater flexibility in hitting a required discharge height (the desired working height of the part application or process).