What it is…

This is a simple bin that can be configured with the OpenSCAD customizer. The bin has a “foot” that raises it a little. You can add magnets to the bottom (of the foot), so that you can stick the bin on any steel surface.

The story behind it…

We have a pick-&-place machine for production of electronics. More specifically: a Quadra DVC by TWS Automation. On occasion, it fails to pick up a component correctly, but that component still dangles below the nozzle (e.g. sideways). The machine detects this, moves it head to the back right corner and drops the part. But… there is nothing there. It is a corner between the feeders and the conveyor belt. And components won't just stay where they are dropped: the machine is constantly vibrating and shaking. So before long, components are everywhere, falling into the machine, or off the machine on the floor.

This was the case for our old Quadra from 1999, and it is still the case for the newest model from 2021. For both, we added a home-made bin, to fit at the right spot. Problem solved.

And then I saw a Youtube video about a Neoden machine, which drops rejected parts on the “tray area,” and there is no bin to keep the parts there. On further inquiry, I was told the same goes for the Autotronik machines: no bin to keep rejected parts. A missing bin starts to sound like the norm, rather than the execption.

Therefore, I decided to generalize my design for a bin for rejected parts, a upload it here.

Design details

The magnets are useful to make the tray stay in place, but at the same time make it easily removable. At the end of a production run, you may want to salvage the more expensive rejected parts. It is way more convenient to do so sitting behind a desk than reaching to the back of a big machine to pick out components one by one with tweezers.

The area where the TWS Quadra drops the components is not flat over the entire area; there are ridges on two sides. Which is why I designed a “foot” with a smaller size, which raises the bin above the ridges.

When printed as a single piece, this design needs supports (unless the foot is almost a big as the bin). The surface above the supports is of lower quality than that of normal (top) surfaces. Which is why you can also opt to print the bin in two parts: bin and foot separately. These, you then glue together.

Many of the parameters are adjustable with the "customizer": the number of magnets and their dimensions, the sizes of the bin and of the foot, and others.

The version picture here, is printed in matte black PLA, with a single white PLA layer for the bottom of the bin. I chose black because the Quadra is black too, but added the white bottom because many electronic components are black. The idea was, that on a white surface, the components stand out more. In retrospect, yellow, light blue or light green would have been a better choice: SMD resistors are black on the top surface, but white on the bottom surface; so if a resistor lies face-down in the bin, it is easily missed.

Electronic components may be ESD sensitive. Use of dissipative plastic would be best, but that is rather expensive. I instead opted for a ESD-safe coating on the inside of the bin (there is no point in coating the outside).