KAWASAKI

Food for thought: Robot stacks sandwiches in 800 milliseconds

Although simple automation can give some manufacturers the boost needed to increase production and product consistency, more complex applications often require intelligent, flexible robotic solutions that can adapt to variable products and picking locations. In the case of a large-scale sandwich producer, growing production demands coupled with a major labour shortage provided motivation for them to robotically automate a highspeed sandwich stacking application. To resolve the challenge, TechBrew Robotics, a Kawasaki Robotics Preferred Integrator based in British Columbia, Canada, designed a custom solution using Kawasaki’s R series robots and F60 controller.

The robots’ task may seem simple: after the sandwiches are halved in the cutting machine, the robots need to pick up and rotate to stack one half on top of the other, making them easier for human workers to package manually further down the line. However, this application was tricky to automate for a number of reasons. The sandwich halves vary in their position as they come out of the cutting machine, so the robot would need some sort of vision intelligence to recognise and understand the location of each half on the conveyor. They also needed to be able to stack the sandwiches in practically the blink of an eye.

Because TechBrew needed to integrate its solution into the customer’s existing production line, it meant making creative use of limited space. To this end, the R series robots were inversely mounted on a cantilever beam attached to the cutting machine, and the F60 controllers’ compact size made it possible to save further space by stacking them on top of 28 FDPP - www.fdpp.co.uk

the sandwich cutting machine itself. To maximise throughput, the robots face outward, stacking sandwiches on two different conveyors which are running simultaneously. There are many variables in this application, so TechBrew used a laser range finding system coupled with conveyor tracking to detect the shape and location of the sandwich halves as they emerge from the cutting machine. Once the sandwich halves have been stacked, they travel down the conveyor to a place where human workers are waiting to place the product into triangular cardboard boxes.

TechBrew designed a custom gripper specifically for this application. The pneumatic end effector is controlled directly by the F60 Controller, allowing for quick movements. A controllable pressure plate comes down to hold the product in place as two stainless steel paddles slide under the sandwich half to lift it. Once lifted, the actuator spins the sandwich half through 180°, and force dampers at the end of the rotation keep the sandwich and its ingredients intact.

Like many other manufacturers, the customer struggled, sometimes daily, to keep up with production goals due to absent workers. “The main driver for the end user here was the frequent shortage of labour. Their production lines were understaffed, and they were always missing people from their optimum shift capacity,” says Kyran Findlater, Mechatronics Designer at TechBrew. Obviously TechBrew had to consider national food safety regulations when designing this solution, and in this case the integrator used the cleanroom version of Kawasaki’s 5 kg payload RS005L general purpose robot. As standard it offers a pressurized cavity, ISO Class 5 cleanroom specification, and comes with an aluminium arm cover, rubber outer seals and a chemical resistant epoxy paint finish for easy wash down. The patent-pending end effector’s tool-less design makes it easy to disassemble for cleaning purposes, and it is constructed with stainless steel and food-grade plastic.

The combination of Kawasaki’s AS programming language and its F60 controller easily handled the complexities of this project. Findlater was able to program this application directly on the robot, without a coprocessor, which reduced costs and simplified the installation. The Kawasaki F60 Controller’s high processing speed handled real-time scanning and data analysis on the sandwich halves, and output the robot coordinates in under 200 milliseconds, while processing a queue of sandwiches at a rate of 60 per minute.

The entire sandwich stacking process takes just 800 milliseconds and according to TechBrew, it didn’t take the customers’ line managers long to adjust to their new robotic co-workers. Throughput has increased significantly as a result of the robot’s consistency.

Hassia’s form-fill-seal machine F600 for sachets produces four-sided sealed sachets at a pace of up to 80 cycles/min

Among other differentiators, the F600 offers single-roll functionality, an improvement over two-roll formats. The units run a single wide roll, which is located at floor level for easy changeover and front-and-back sachet registration – an option offering more printing choices than traditional two-roll machines. The F600 can handle rolls as wide as 1.200 mm with a diameter of 800 mm, which can yield up to 16 hours of run

time between roll changes; the result is significantly reduced downtime and boosted productivity.

The F600’s careful product handling places a premium on quality assurance, and its CIP and SIP-suitable dosing units can be adjusted per specific product requirements. Exemplary filling accuracy and hygiene standards are assured, and the hermetic pack seal produced by the F600 is secure yet easy to open for consumer convenience.

The F600 is also flexible: A range of pack designs are possible, and sizes can be configured to align with production capacity. The machine’s control concepts are highly versatile and include opportunities for integration with customer-specific systems. The unit can handle all common packaging materials suitable for heat-sealing.

For more information please contact p +44 740 884 06 02 www.imadairyfood.com

The New SRP Cobot by Phoenix Handling Solutions

The new SRP Cobot from PHS is an extremely compact, versatile and fully automatic, low-cost modular robot palletizing system, based on a Hanwha HCR-12 industrial collaborative robot. Designed for easy, low-capacity palletizing on a very small footprint.

The system is available in two versions. Given the vast experience of PHS in end of line automation, Cobots were a natural progression for our business for existing and new customers alike. They are simple to install and do not require masses of conveyors to feed them. Hence they can be easily placed at the end of a production line picking and placing product 24/7 if required.

Safety plays a huge part of the PHS solution, as we provide a fully guarded cell to follow the strict guidelines for CE marking Cobots, with safety guarding at each side of the machine and a radar 30 FDPP - www.fdpp.co.uk

scanning system to the front. Should a person be detected by the radar, we automatically slow down the Robot into Cobot mode, ie it runs at a lower speed for safety reasons.

Advantages

• Low investment, fast ROI • Standardized system - fast delivery and installation • Very compact footprint, easy to relocate by pallet trolley or forklift • Collaborative industrial robot - safety fencing and safety radar scanner included – CE certified • Easy product change-over • Can handle Euro 1200 x 800 or

Chep style 1200 x 1000mm pallets x 2 positions • Optional layer sheet inserter • Up to 6 cycles per minute, either single or multi picking according to gripper type and dimensions • Single phase power supply • 6 bar air pressure • Lease purchase, hire purchase, lease only or outright purchase options available

Should your business be considering a low cost palletizing solution, then please contact Phoenix Handling Solutions Limited:

T: 0845 265 7570 E: admin@phs-uk.com.

www.phs-uk.com