LED Tubes Chocolate Peanut Butter Bars Robotic Medication Dispensers
L.e.d. tubes are designed so they can easily replace fluorescent tubes that are inside overhead commercial light fixtures. Unlike traditional incandescent and fluorescent lighting, a light-emitting diode produces light through a microchip. It lasts twice as long and uses half the electricity. These l.e.d. tubes come in a selection of lengths. They're designed to be a modern, energy-saving alternative to fluorescent tube light fixtures. The manufacturing process begins with a printed circuit board. "printed" means the board has a network of conductive copper lines and rectangular paths. It's designed to electrically link components. A technician places the circuit board on a track, which ferries it to the first computer-guided machine on the line. The machine covers the board with a metal stencil. The stencil has openings matching the locations where the electronic components will be mounted to the board. The machine spreads a layer of lead-free tin alloy solder over the stencil. This applies solder to the board only where the components go. The next computer-guided machine on the line mounts the first of those components, the light emitting diodes, or l.e.d.s. They're composed of a microchip coated with a chemical phosphor and come in different sizes, colors, and light outputs. The factory programs the machine's chip shooter to pick the required l.e.d.s off supply reels and place them on the solder-coated locations on the circuit board. The chip shooter works at an astonishing speed, placing up to 40,000 l.e.d.s per hour. A camera trained on the board verifies that every l.e.d.'s position is dead-on. The circuit board moves to a third computer-guided machine for the next electronic component, the terminals. They receive the electric current to power the l.e.d. light tube. The machine picks up one terminal at a time and places it on the circuit board. The circuit board moves into the final machine on this line, a tunnel oven. The temperature inside peaks at about 460 degrees fahrenheit. The heat melts the solder, fusing the components to the board. Solder is both adhesive and conductive. The bond connects the components to the board's copper electrical network. For the high light output tube they're making in this run, each board is comprised of eight strips. Each strip has dual rows of l.e.d.s. They snap them into 12-inch strips. The tube length they're making requires four strips. A technician slides one with a terminal and three without into an aluminum track. He gives them a visible inspection, then solders the strips to each other. Once soldered, the strips are electrically bridged so the terminal on the first one can power all of them. The aluminum track is called the heat sink. It's critical to the tube's performance. It has deep fins on the bottom which dissipate heat, cooling the l.e.d.s. This keeps the color of the light consistent and extends the tube's life. Once the technician connects the strips, he plugs power into the terminal to test the l.e.d.s. Next, he inserts wires into the terminal and locks them in with a compression tool. The opposite ends of the wires connect to the power supply in the light fixture. The technician snaps a transparent polycarbonate lens into grooves on the side of the heat sink. He closes the tube by placing a cap on each end. He aligns each cap's pins with slots on the press. Then the press is activated, which forces the caps onto the tube, attaching them permanently. The end with the terminal has slots enabling the wires to protrude. The light tube is finished and ready to be shipped. To install this energy-efficient l.e.d. tube, simply click the pins on the end caps into receiving slots in the light fixture. Then connect the wires to the power supply and the fixture's wiring. Thanks to those cooling fins on the heat sink, this l.e.d. tube will last for 100,000 hours and has a guaranteed 10-year life-span. As any sweet tooth can attest, there's no end to the flavors you can pair with chocolate. A classic combination is milk chocolate and peanut butter. The saltiness of the peanut butter is the perfect foil to the sweetness of milk chocolate. This bar features a thick layer of milk chocolate around a sweet, salty and crunchy peanut butter candy center. Making that peanut butter candy center is the tricky part. To make the candy part of it, the factory combines liquid sugar, corn syrup, coconut oil, and molasses. They mix and heat these ingredients for about 8 minutes. The cooked candy is poured into a large stainless steel bowl. Next, they add leftovers from the previous batch of candy. They call these leftovers "rework" because they rework them into this new batch. Once the rework has mixed with the hot, new candy, they empty the bowl onto a cold stainless steel table. They blend the candy until the two merge into a sweet, gooey mess. Once the candy has cooled a bit, workers fold it up and carry it over to the pulling station. There, they make a pocket in the center and fill it with vanilla extract. They start up the pulling machine, which stretches the candy nonstop for about 5 minutes. This infuses the candy with air so that its consistency resembles taffy rather than hard candy. They transfer the candy to a belt that carries to it to the weaving machine. The machine's rollers flatten the candy into a thin sheet. Then a pump draws piping hot peanut butter from this tank... And deposits it in a generous layer onto the candy sheet. Workers roll up the sheet until it reaches a specific diameter. At that point, they fold and place it on a sheet without peanut butter, called a blank sheet. The next roller presses the folded roll flat onto the blank sheet. Workers roll up the blank sheet, sealing the peanut butter candy inside. This complex assembly is what forms the flaky layers in the chocolate bar center. Workers round the sheet between two rollers and feed it to the rope sizer. It stretches the peanut butter candy into a rope that's the exact diameter of the chocolate bar center. The next machine makes a pinch mark every 5 inches, or the length of a chocolate bar. The linked centers enter a cooling tunnel. They exit 5 minutes later rigid. The links separate as they drop to the next conveyor belt. They pass through a second refrigerated tunnel, which finishes cooling them. The centers move into lanes that feed the enrober, a machine that coats the centers with chocolate. Workers make sure the centers are single file and properly spaced. The enrober is like a confectionery car wash. Centers pass through a hot rinse of milk chocolate first. Then, an overhead dryer blows off any excess, leaving behind a 3-milliliter layer of chocolate. The bars enter a final cooling tunnel to harden the chocolate. Workers transfer the finished chocolate peanut butter bars to a conveyor belt for packaging. As the bars approach the wrapping machine, the in-feeder arranges them in single file. Rolls of printed plastic film unwind into the machine's forming box. In the blink of an eye, the machine folds, wraps, and heat-seals the film around each passing bar. A revolving knife slices the wrapper between bars. Then, it's off to the packaging department, where workers pack them 24 to a box. These chocolate peanut butter bars are ready to be devoured by anyone in the mood for a crunchy, sweet, and salty chocolate snack. At some pharmacies, robotic systems are lending a helping hand behind the counter. These machines can do it all. They count pills, dispense them into vials, cap the vials and label them. When it comes to handling a heavy workload, these robotic dispensers are just what the doctor ordered. Input the prescription data, and this robotic medication dispenser goes to work. It counts bottles and labels pills in just 30 to 40 seconds. Making a robot starts with a retainer disk for the vial-capping system. Computerized tools carve slots for the capping mechanism. They measure the slots with an electronic probe. Tools sculpt the rough plastic blank, transforming it into a platform for the pill vial during capping. The part takes shape in minutes. An assembler installs two computers in the dispenser frame. One computer interfaces with the robotic system. The other operates the drug inventory. She installs a rack that holds a power strip above the computers. She lowers a battery into place beside the computers and ties it to the framework. This battery provides backup power in the event of an outage. Next come the controls for the robotic arm. She inserts them in the frame and plugs them in. Another member of the team assembles plastic brackets to an aluminum manifold. These brackets hold plastic cells filled with pills. The manifold itself sends dispensing information to the cells. It also delivers bursts of air to move the pills through the cells and into prescription vials. She secures the brackets to the manifold with screws. Then, she attaches a long row of circuit boards to the manifold. These circuit boards send data between the cells and the dispensing computer. She connects ribbon cable to the computer circuit board. This cable will be linked to 18 other manifolds in the dispensing machine. They're ready to mount all the manifolds to a large metal frame. An employee slides the ends of each manifold into slots in the rack. She stacks up the cell manifolds, creating a bank of 18. Plastic dividers are attached to the brackets. This creates compartments to hold the actual pill cells. The dividers strengthen the entire dispensing machine's structure. A technician now installs a vertical rail that's equipped with a robotic arm. He fits the bottom of the rail into the grooves of a horizontal track and attaches the top of the rail to an upper track. He connects one end of a long pole, called a link shaft, to the robot and the other end to the top track. This shaft moves the robotic arm horizontally to collect pills in a vial. The installer tests the shaft to confirm it moves the arm along the track with no obstructions. He programs the robotic arm to move up, down, need around in order to collect pills during dispensing. He attaches rubber flaps to the back of all the pill compartments. They absorb the sound of the equipment to keep the noise level down. He connects tanks full of compressed air to the grid. The compressed air will be pumped through the manifolds to move pills through the cells. A technician now assembles the exception carousel. It captures medications that haven't been perfectly dispensed. He inserts the motor assembly in the center cavity and snaps the top into place. He screws a metal framework to the assembly and confirms that it revolves freely within the framework. He scans the serial number for tracking purposes. Stay tuned for more as they prepare this medication dispenser for the workplace. A technological revolution is happening behind the pharmacy counter. Robotic systems are proving to be fast and accurate pill counters. These robotic dispensers bottle and label the medications. In a busy pharmacy, these machines are a prescription for change. The carousel that captures any prescriptions that are improperly dispensed is now complete. A technician mounts it to the center of the machine. He attaches touch screen controls above the carousel. It's time to assemble the labeling system for the pill vials. The first component is the device that spins the vials as the labels are applied. She wires it to a motor, then places it in the housing. She connects a sensor that will detect the presence of a vial. She attaches the printer to a computer circuit board, then tucks the printer into the housing. It's time for a test. She loads a vial. Then, the labeler takes it for a spin. The system unwinds paper and prints the prescribing information. Little arms wrap the sticky label around the spinning vial. She inspects the label for accuracy and clarity. If it meets standards, they install the labeler in the medication dispenser. It's attached to the bottom of the robot's frame. The technician mounts two vial storage units above the labeler. One is for smaller vials, and the other is for larger ones. Mechanical levers inside each unit hold vials until they're ready for labeling. Vials travel down these plastic chutes to the printer. Beside the vial storage and delivery system, he installs the capper that twists the tops onto the vials. Next up are drop-off bins for the completed prescriptions. Another technician encases the control screen and carousel below it with plastic framing. He fits an emergency stop button to the switch above the control screen. To protect the sensitive electronics, they attach plastic cabinetry to the front. A technician now calibrates the cells that hold the pills. He connects them one at a time to a computer, which communicates with the cell network. He programs the number of pills to be counted and the amount of air pressure needed to move them through the throat of the cell. After a pill cell is programmed, a technician places the cell in its slot at the back of the dispenser. There are up to 228 uniquely programmed cells. They'll hold the pharmacy's most commonly dispensed medications. He now scans the bar codes on each cell to log the pill inventory. The bar code is the serial number for the cell. This robotic medication dispenser is ready to be put to the test. He loads pill vials into the storage compartments at the front. Caps are deposited in the compartment beside the vials. Then, he stocks some of the cells with pills. For the purpose of this test, the pills are plastic copies. Sensors in the cells count the pills that are loaded. The technician inputs the test prescription. A vial drops, and the printer labels it. The robotic arm takes the vial to the correct cell. The robotic arm rotates and slides sideways, delivering the vial to the capping operation. A second robotic arm then presses and twists the cap onto the vial. The prescription is now filled. From labeling to dispensing to capping, the process has taken mere seconds. In the pharmacy, this robotic medication dispenser should prove to be indispensable.