Swabbing: Flokontrol Swabbing robot with automatic tool change

Swabbing robot 4.0 with automatic tool change

With swabbing robots on the way to becoming standard in all container glass plants, H. Safa Aksoy* presents his vision for the smart glass factory.

Located on the way from Istanbul to the Greek border, Flokontrol has large global brand owners and glass manufacturers amongst its customers.

The solution portfolio ranges from automatic guided vehicles to handling and palletising robots, vision systems and automatic swabbing robots. As for the swabbing robots, more than 100 systems will be installed by the end of this year.

Multi-tool technology

The swabbing robot is able to carry different tools, from servo-brush to spraying unit, from temperature sensors to handling grippers.

The big difference to other suppliers is that the robot changes its tool fully automatically.

Berzah Ünal, Head of R&D is proud of this fully automatic solution. He said: “We receive a very positive customer feedback, as the robot becomes more and more fl exible.

“We can cover all kinds of swabbing procedures, from mould to neck ring and soon as well on the blow-side of the machine.

“Of course, the blank side is key in the forming process, but we are sure that there is as well room for improvement on the blow-side.

“Also important on the road to a smart plant is the temperature measuring of gob and mould. Our multi-tool technology provides the right answer for this closedloop approach.”

Brushing and spraying tool are possible

in recent years, we have come to the conclusion to offer both, a brush and spray version”, said Mr. Aksoy.

“We have customer who can reach a productivity improvement by 2 percentage points. It makes no difference, which tool us used.”, he added.

Flokontrol believes the brush tool is superior from a cost point of view. At fi rst glance the brush solution sounds banal, but there is a big difference between the hand-operated brush and the robotoperated brush.

Flokontrol has coupled the brush to a servo motor. This motor turns the brush at high speed, before leaving the container with the lubricant. This procedure guarantees a constant amount of lubricant to be applied to the moulds or neck rings.

In addition, the brush enables a cleaning effect on the mould, which the spray solution cannot provide.

Nevertheless, spraying nozzles are of

� Brush or Spray Option with fully automatic tool change

course an interesting solution for many customers. As a reason for that, Flokontrol has decided to offer both solutions. The on-the-fl y mould swabbing is standard for both solutions. On-the-fl y neck ring swabbing is under development, soon to be released, same as a solution for swabbing the defl ectors.

High-end components

All automation solutions from Flokontrol are based on high-end components.

The robot was created in Japan, named Fanuc. Operator safety if of major importance to Flokontrol, where the latest 3D laser scanner from the German company Sick is used.

“So far, all customers place repeated orders,” said Mr Aksoy. “Despite the highquality components, the price of our solution us very attractive”.

� The SICK Laser Safety Scanner � Brush with servo cleaning effect

Important to know, the control system comprise and anti-collision check logic, to prevent the tool from being touched by the invert.

Agile and fl exible engineering

Flokontrol is fl exible concerning the installation. Overhead assembly is possible, same as bottom assembly. In case of an overhead assembly, the robot comes with a separate rail so that the overhead control panel of the IS machine remains untouched.

As a result, a stop of the IS machine during the mechanical installation is not necessary. The start-up can normally be realised within less than 10 days. An onsite engineering analysis is part of the complete solution package.

Pricing and spare part supply

Spare part supply is extremely easy, as the parts are in the standard portfolio of large international suppliers, so all parts can be purchased from local distributors.

The whole package comes for an attractive price, easing the Capex budget of the plant, and the operation of the robot is easy and straightforward to learn.

An article database is standard, same as start-of the connectivity. In case of questions, Flokontrol can check the status by the standard remote maintenance & assistance module. �

*Sales Director Flokontrol, Karamehmet Mah, Turkey http://www.fl okontrol.com/en-US

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