Headquartered in Barcelona, Spain, Packfeeder specialises in systems for unscrambling and positioning bottle-shaped containers. Such machines are frequently used in the cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, food, household cleaner and chemicals industries, where products must be filled into bottles. A good example is the new bottle sorting system that was developed with help from Beckhoff. Packfeeder CEO, Ferran Martínez, explains: “Having innovation as a basic objective requires technology partners that share our vision, which is one of the reasons why we are working with Beckhoff to master the technology challenges.”
By leveraging the highly flexible XTS, the new Pickfeeder family of machines can sort bottles of various materials and vastly different sizes and shapes without mechanical modifications to the production line. The use of XTS in combination with delta robots eliminates the need for specially shaped parts that are normally needed for each individual bottle in a standard machine and enables the Pickfeeder’s automatic changeover functionality.
Integrated systems deliver high process efficiency
Depending on the performance requirements, the Pickfeeder can be configured with up to four delta robots for a broad spectrum of sorting applications. The combination of four-axis delta robots with the intelligent XTS transport system from Beckhoff makes for an extremely versatile machine that features optimised throughput and a gentle transfer to the exit conveyor, in addition to automatic format switching.
The machine’s most important innovation, says Martínez, is the separation of the infeed area, where bottles arrive lying down, from the outfeed area where bottles are placed upright on the exit conveyor: “Conventional systems perform both of these steps with robots. Using the delta robots only to grab the prone bottles, on the other hand, allows us to use smaller and less expensive robots while still exploiting their speed to the fullest. XTS is the ideal solution for accepting the bottles from the robots and handing them over upright and perfectly synchronised to the conveyor for transfer to the next machine. This prevents bottles from being positioned incorrectly or tipping over.”
On the Pickfeeder machines, the flexible XTS employs the GFX guide rail from HepcoMotion and a Packfeeder-developed gripper. This innovative combination of technologies forms a universal solution that can handle a broad range of containers irrespective of their shape, material, colour and fragility. In addition, any format changes within the filling line are easily handled via the multi-touch control panel. According to Packfeeder, this capability represents a huge advantage over mechanical unscrambling systems, which require several components to be switched out for each format change.
Focus on flexibility is key
While increasing the operating speed of each robot was an important objective of the development project, the main focus was on the ability to switch formats automatically. “The daily operations of our partners and customers demand maximum machine flexibility in order to accommodate the endless container variations in terms of geometries, colours, materials, textures and refinements,” explains Martínez. “The successful launch of the Pickfeeder series has met the expectations of our customers with the additional benefit of optimising the relationship between throughput rate and floor space requirements. For example, the Pickfeeder Single 100, the smallest model with only a single robot, achieves an output rate of more than 120 bottles per minute. That’s a great improvement over conventional systems with 70 to 80 bottles per minute.”
Lluís Moreno, sales engineer at Beckhoff Spain, concludes: “Packfeeder appreciated from the start the flexibility of the XTS and the benefits of PC-based control for the entire machine. We foresaw their huge potential for Packfeeder’s bottle unscramblers in our first meeting. It was our clear goal to close this gap that existed in the packaging market with a machine that could unscramble random bottle sizes and shapes with exceptional flexibility.”
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