Debris Mitigation on Mylar Sticker

Abstract

The objective of this project is to mitigate debris on the mylar sheet during the justification process by reducing the area in which debris can fall. Corning Inc. is a ceramics company that makes diesel particulate filters. These filters are very brittle throughout the manufacturing process. These filters are picked up by a robot tooling and centered on a table, which is called the justification process, before being partially filled with cement. When the robot is completing the centering process, the tooling repeatedly grabs and releases the filter. As it releases, debris from the outer layer of the part falls onto the pattern sticker, a sticker used to create a seal with the robot tooling. This debris creates a problem for the filling process, due to the seal being compromised by the debris. To solve this problem our team created a design to catch the debris before it falls onto the pattern sticker. As the robot encloses the filter, our design covers most of the quarter-inch gap between the robot’s tooling and filter. The debris then falls from the filter onto our design, keeping it away from the sealing zone on the pattern sticker. Our design is a simple and effective solution within a complicated manufacturing process. This design is simple because it has no moving parts and utilizes a minimum amount of materials, lowering the cost of the entire design. The effectiveness of our design is proven by its ability at catching debris and ensuring a proper seal between the tooling and the sticker.

Our Sponsor

We would like to thank Corning Inc. and our project sponsors Jeffery Roche, Trent Brush, and Justin Barber for giving us the opportunity to work alongside them and create something for this company.