Position monitoring at an indexing station

The indexing station moves the workpiece carrier on which the workpiece is located into a predefined position either along the conveying line or in the assembly station, where it then fixes the carrier in place for further processing. To achieve this, the workpiece carrier is lifted off the belt conveyor by pneumatic indexing cylinders and pressed against an upper limit in the carrier. What are known as singulators or stoppers are used to stop the workpiece carriers. These singulators are designed to operate either mechanically or pneumatically. Both in the indexing cylinder and in the pneumatic stopper, there are one or two integrated MZT8 magnetic cylinder sensors which detect the upper and lower position of the piston rod. In the case of a mechanical stopper, the position is determined using an IME inductive proximity sensor.