My previous articles have mentioned this innovative bit of technology, so it’s time to discuss it in more depth. When nailing heads on sheathing bridges run out of nails at different times, it causes multiple stoppages on the line – and it’s maddening to see how these interruptions reduce volume and productivity. To solve this problem, we have created patent pending Dual Coil Vertical Articulating Nail Heads that speed up the Sheathing Station no matter how complex the nailing pattern. Given that sheathing is often the slowest station, this will increase production on the entire PreFab line. Here’s a summary of our thinking.
Issues with Previous Attempts at a Solution – Mega nail coils reduce reloading frequency, but heads can only get within 22” of each other. Fitting more nailing heads by putting them on both sides of a bridge means heads are not over the same stud and some are confined to specific tasks like nailing top and bottom plates. Robots with tool changers can swap out coils, but they are expensive and slow.
AMT Robotics Solution – We orient coils vertically, so heads can be positioned within 6” of each other, which means there’s room for a second Mega Coil that automatically feeds into the nailer when the first one runs out. This means multiple back-up coils can be reloaded at the same time. There’s room for up to eight heads on one side, with all heads positioned to share the work equally. Additionally, more than one 6” nail head can fit above or below rough openings to speed up the fastening of those areas.
There’s still more! We can stop to reload second coils between panels, so the bridge does not have to go back to where it left off. We also have room to piggyback additional tools like screw guns on each nailing head and still have them within 13” of each other. Plus, there is room available on the other side of the bridge for more tools. By the way, the entire nail head pivots on a cam so the bridge does not have to be repositioned to nail both sides of a vertical seam. And yes, we can pivot to nail horizontal seams too.
Hopefully our approach makes sense – we are always open to new ideas on how to make these systems even better. Reach out when you’re ready to eliminate your sheathing bottleneck.