Small, elastic, and deceptively simple — O-rings are among the most difficult components to handle automatically.
Used across countless industries — from automotive to medical and hydraulics — O-rings are essential sealing elements that demand precision and reliability.
Yet, when it comes to automated feeding and assembly, they represent one of the toughest challenges engineers face.
Why traditional systems struggle
O-rings behave unlike rigid components.
They’re soft, flexible, and tend to deform under vibration or pressure.
When fed in bulk, they stick together, overlap, or twist, often forming clusters that jam mechanical channels.
Their circular geometry and low rigidity make orientation nearly impossible using conventional methods based on mechanical tracks or vibration.
The result?
Unstable feeding, frequent stoppages, and the need for constant manual supervision.
In high-volume production, even a small jam can translate into significant downtime and increased maintenance costs.
The flexible approach: stability through control
This is where FlexiBowl® makes the difference.
Instead of relying on mechanical agitation, it uses a controlled combination of rotation and impulse to gently separate and distribute O-rings over a flat surface.
Once spread, a vision system precisely detects their position and orientation, guiding the robot for accurate pick-and-place operations.
Because the process is based on software-driven control rather than mechanical constraints, FlexiBowl® maintains a consistent and repeatable flow — even with parts that are deformable, sticky, or irregularly shaped.
How FlexiBowl® overcomes the O-ring challenge
- Gentle handling: The absence of mechanical channels prevents stretching or tearing of soft rubber components.
- No overlapping or tangling: The impulse-rotation system ensures even part distribution across the surface.
- Full flexibility: The same platform can handle O-rings of different sizes and materials, from silicone to Viton, without mechanical retooling.
- Vision-based precision: With integrated image analysis, only correctly oriented parts are picked, improving quality and reducing waste.
- Fast changeovers: Recipes can be switched in seconds, enabling rapid adaptation to new formats or dimensions.
The result is continuous, jam-free feeding that keeps production stable — whether you’re handling a few hundred or thousands of O-rings per hour.
Efficiency meets reliability
For automation engineers, the ability to reliably feed flexible components like O-rings opens new possibilities:
fully automated assembly lines that require less manual oversight, lower maintenance, and offer higher repeatability.
In the end, FlexiBowl® turns what used to be a “problem part” into a perfectly integrated step of your automation process.
💬 Have you ever faced issues feeding flexible or elastic parts like O-rings? How are you managing these challenges today?
Every automation project is unique by nature: components, materials, cycle times, and layout constraints differ from one line to another. For this reason, FlexiBowl® can be configured in multiple ways and paired with various options to adapt precisely to each production scenario. If you’d like to explore how this approach could fit your specific application, our team is always open to a technical discussion.
