“Break-Through Generation”

Reduce footprint on the ground and improve the dynamic performance of the servoaxes for managing robots, with the intent of improving integration: Cama Group has achieved these objectives with Bosch Rexroth’s IndraDrive Mi and fields secondary and new generation packaging systems.

«Packaging Machines are just commodities...The Service is what makes the difference... Machines must be integrated in the End Users production chain». This is the mantra that inspired the design of the Cama Break-Through Generation, successfully introduced at Interpack fair in Duesseldorf.
Since ten years Cama machines have been conceived to cope with the TPM system applied in most of the food and non-food productions, but now, Cama Break-Through Machines are moving a step forward, getting closer to Six Sigma philosophy.
    
Developing integration. The Italian company is renowned for the lean design of its secondary packaging machines and robots. Cama’s engineers have been designing machines complying with TPM over the last ten years, reaching excellent results not only in terms of technical solutions but in accessibility and hygienic design, too. Besides that, an extensive preventive maintenance program helped in making Cama equipments synonym of efficiency and reliability.
«This is not enough, if you want to be a leader you cannot enjoy your position, you have to go for a new Challenge» Daniele Bellante, Cama Managing Director, stated. That’s why Cama is now ready to take a breakthrough in the packaging business, proposing a new philosophy to conceive robots and machines. The Company invests every year at least 5% of its turnover in Research and Development, but it’s also open to cooperation in order to take advantage of important synergies, such as the close relationship with the Politecnico of Milan, one of the best Italian engineering University, or business partnerships with specialised and selected suppliers.

Reducing spaces and increasing efficiency. The reason of the Break-Through Generation success is the new state of the art loading unit, where 12 Delta type robots work together in a compact framework, including the central product feeding conveyor and the empty boxes conveyors, in a reduced space of just 5 mt length.
Thanks to the patented anti collision software, which enables the robots to work very close to each other, sharing the same picking area without interfering, CAMA can integrate in a very reduced space its patented co-flow loading system concept, with product feeding conveyor moving in the same direction as the empty boxes conveyors. The picking system is driven by 2 cameras through back-illumination on the product transport belt, expandable to 4 cameras for higher precision.
Mechanical frames are realized with open or opening parts, with the possibility to store format parts in the cabinets, which do not contain electrical components. Electrical cabinets, with extremely reduced size, are integrated in the machine’s frame.
«We invest a lot in R&D, but this is not enough: our core business is packaging machines and robots and we are very good in that, but if we want to excel and be able to go over the edge, we must mix our know-how with our suppliers expertise» Riccardo Panepinto, Cama Operations Director, asserts.
The new Break-Through Generation CAMA machines dunque overcomes the limits of the current technology, fulfilling an effective solution in terms of integrability and productivity, reducing both dimensions of the complete line and the sanification activities: the partnership with Rexroth  (si veda al proposito il box) offers the Italian group a complete automation platform, flexible and outperforming in order to win the most demanding requirements of the current packaging market.

A dedicated platform
Bosch Rexroth IndraDrive Mi platform allows Cama to overcome the two biggest challenges set by new Break-Through Generation secondary packaging systems: the reduction of the installation surface of the lines, and the servo-axes dynamic performances required for the robot working cycles.  
«IndraDrive Mi family is the most complete and flexible solution for the design of reduced-dimensions machines - states Luigi Franchini, Packaging and Printing Cluster manager at Bosch Rexroth - offering both motor-integrated drive and near motor drive solution, with dynamic regulation of the servo-axes allowing the best performances expected in high-speed robotic applications»
The near motor drive solution, with protection degree IP65, are installed on the top of the machine, reducing the footprint of the entire line, and simplifying the overall sanification. Moreover, the daisy-chain connection solution reduces significantly the cabling effort, with effective reduction of assembling time and costs, improving also the future maintenance of the machine.
IndraDrive Mi platform allows the connection of peripheral IO nodes directly to the near motor drive, achieving a complete modular design in motion and logic architecture of the machines. The modular design is completed with Safety functions, like SafeTorqueOff (certified Cat4, PL e, SIL3) or SafeMotion functions (certified Cat4, PL e, SIL3), directly activated by Sercos Safe bus commands, with no wired connections on the drives.
The full-Rexroth automation platform includes a 12” touch panel, with programming interface developed with Rexroth WinStudio scada package, and with the SafeLogicCompact system for the safety logic programming.
 
Cama Group at East Afripack 2014
As a member of the Italian network “Processing & Packaging. The High-Tech Italian Way”, Cama Group is proud to showcase on the African Continent its secondary packaging technology, which can be specifically tailored to each customer.
From September 9th up to the 12th, Cama is at East Afriack 2014,  Nairobi (Kenya), Tsavo Ballroom - Stand B16.