Overview
In this automatic feeding system, the clusters/blanks are picked up directly from a pallet that arrives in the working area by means of a roller conveyor system that allows filled pallets to enter and empty pallets to exit. Pallets will be stacked by a mechanical stacker.
As a first step, the robot must remove the wooden board placed on top of the pallet, which is hooked with 4 harpoons with a pneumatic control and placed in a container on the side.
Below the board there is a cardboard layer with the same dimensions of the pallet, which is removed by means of 4 suction pads placed on pneumatic shock absorbers that allow self levelling.
After this cycle, the robot retracts the arms with harpoons and suction pads and goes to the phase of collection of cluster/blanks stacks.
In this step, the head is aligned on the 3 axes of the pallet in a millimeter way using 6 laser readers. After alignment, there is a measurement of the height of the cluster stack and a calculation of how many pickings are needed to keep the height of the stacks within a preset range.
Then the robot moves on to the peeling and picking of the stack with the preset height. The stack is held by a system of slats and pneumatic suction pads and is placed on a special conveyor with rubber belts to be transported to the cluster/blanks station.
The clusters on the conveyor belt are accumulated trough a step-by-step system so that they do not press together. At the end of the belt, the stacks are compacted individually with 4 self-centering banks and picked up by a second 6-axis robot.
The robot, using a special gripper, takes the stacks from the belt and places them in a vertical position with the desired orientation in the cluster stacker.
Advantages
Robo-feeder allows the automation of the whole clustering/cartoning process and the elimination of the repetitive operator work, resulting in a reduction of operators’ interventions and an economic saving. Thanks to an increased production capacity it is possible to obtain an increased line efficiency.
