MULTI-STATION

A large range of standard models, mono- or multi-stations, to thermoform sheets or films from 0.1 mm to 8 mm fed in rollers or sheets. 

The technique is very versatile and adaptable. Plastisols may be applied overall or—by means of engraved screens—can be printed in selected areas, in weights that can be varied between 30 g m-2 and more than 500 g m-2. Suitable substrates include paper, other non-woven materials, glass-fibre webs, and textiles. Water-based inks can be employed as coatings or in printed designs. For relief effects, expandable aqueous polyacrylate dispersions offer an alternative to expandable plastisol inks. They are dried and then expanded at 120°C, a temperature much lower than is required for vinyls with a multi-station machine, a wide variety of products can be made. 

If desired, units for gravure or flexographic printing can be included in a multi-station screen printing line, so allowing the combination of different effects and finishes. 

Different extrusion profile processes can be used such as a robotic profile. A robot delivers the hot melt over or around a substrate. This robotic extrusion process can uses a flexible, heated, high-pressure hose that is connected to the extruder s die exit. The hot melt travels through the hose. At the end of the hose is a nozzle the tip of this nozzle is, in effect the actual profile die. A computer-regulated multiaxis robot controls the positioning of the profile nozzle die. The nozzle/die is guided by the robot to deposit the profile s hot melt on, as an example, a substrate that is on a multi-station rotating table supporting other substrates to be covered. 

MSAU/MAU IBM s Multi-Station Access Unit (Token Ring hubs)... 

Since QC relies on random sampling, complete coverage of every print station in a multi-station cylinder or plate cannot be guaranteed. It is sometimes useful for a printer to supply the customer with a first and last sheet (often termed gang pulls) to show that text did not change between start and finish. 

Multi-station automatic coaler MAC (OPTICAL COATING LABORATORIES INC., USA) equipped with evaporation sources. The control system can be seen on the left, and the six coating chambers and part of the lead in vacuum system on the right. 

Multi-station coater (LEYBOLD) to deposit multilayers on large architectural glass panes by sputtering... 

Assembly/Disassembly Systems Most products consist of many parts, and their assembly requires considerable care and planning. There are three basic categories of assembly systems manual, high-speed automatic, and robotic (Kalpakjian and Schmid 2002). Manual systems are generally convenient for complex parts in small lots. High-speed automated systems use transfer mechanisms designed specifically for assembly. In robotic assembly systems, one or more robots can work at a single workstation or at a multi-station assembly system. 

Apart from the above, DIN EN 201 also lists additional endangerment, affecting special machinery designs. These, for instance, concern specifrcally described danger areas on rotary table machines, or on multi-station machines with moving plasticating unit. 

Laser Fluorimeter As 2i source of biological information we propose the use of a multi-station (up to 12 sampling locations) towed sea water laser fluorimeter for water quality analysis specific to selected hydrocarbons which might be present in the area. The laser excites elements of the plankton population and that of calibrated hydrocarbons (e.g. breakdown products of munitions contents) present in the water. The fluorescent spectra are received through a fibre optic cable, split and counted through specific filters. From this data a direct correlation of the effects of pollution on the plankton population can be made. The system would be towed in conjunction with the multi-sensor towed array. 

Dietl, C. Rakowsky, U. K. 2006. An Operating Strategy for High-Availability Multi-Station Transfer Lines. International Journal of Automation and Computing, Vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 125-130. 

Lamination techniques allow the combination of several materials to form a multi-layer structure with properties superior to their component layers (see Laminating). However, adhesive lamination as a means of producing a multi-layer laminate generally involves several machine passes or expensive, large, complex multi-station laminators. In addition, these techniques generally rely on solvent-based materials, although some 100%... 

Goldsmith AAJ, Dowson D (1999b), A multi-station hip joint simulator study of the performance of 22 mm diameter zirconia-ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene total replacement hip joints , Proc Inst Mech Eng H, 213, 77-90. 

Fig. 3. An air heated rotational multi-station moulding machine. ( Courtesy of John Orme Ltd.)...

Single-/multi-station assembly at one or more workstations where a specific or more commonly, a variety of operations are performed. Typically, greater than six components to be assembled requires a multi-station arrangement. 

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