ABSTRACT
The vibratory-bowl feeder is the most versatile of all hopper feeding devices for small engineering parts. In this feeder (Figure. 3.1), the track along which the parts travel is helical and passes around the inside wall of a shallow cylindrical hopper or bowl. The bowl is usually supported on three or four sets of inclined leaf springs secured to a heavy base. Vibration is applied to the bowl from an electromagnet mounted on the base, and the support system constrains the movement of the bowl so that it has a torsional vibration about its vertical axis, coupled with a linear vertical vibration. The motion is such that any small portion of the inclined track vibrates along a short, approximately straight path, which is inclined to the horizontal at an angle greater than that of the track. When component parts are placed in the bowl, the effect of the vibratory motion is to cause them to climb up the track to the outlet at the top of the bowl. Before considering the characteristics of vibratory-bowl feeders, it is necessary to examine the mechanics of vibratory conveying. For this purpose, it is convenient to deal with the motion of a part on a straight vibrating track that is inclined at a small angle to the horizontal.
