Pick & place for packaging

Pick and Place robotics has seen an enormous growth is recent years and, above all in the packaging processes, plays a fundamental role in substaining operational speeds and flexibility of the plants. K.L.A.IN.robotics, distributor of the Veltru robots, shows esxperience and solutions at Ipack-Ima (Hall 7 - Stand D122).

Pick and Place robotics has seen an enormous growth is recent years. More and more production facilities rely on the possibilities of modern automation with integrated lines. The parallel robot such as the Delta Robots offered by Veltru, distributed in Italy by K.L.A.IN.robotics (1), allow high throughput of lightweight handling in various sectors such as food, cosmetic-pharmaceutical, mechanical industry. Typical applications are in packaging, where individual picking allows feeding random product streams into the packaging process.

Focus on the gripper
While the robot is a standard device, one key of every application is the gripper. To make use of the dynamics of a Delta Robot reaching up to 10g 100m/s^2 acceleration, the product need to be firmly held, however, without damaging the product like delicate chocolate or biscuits or even produce prone to water marks if not handled gently. To reduce the project specific risk and allow long term spare part supplies with reasonable stock, the gripper is based on standard modules available on the market of build by Veltru. For short handling time most of the applications use a pneumatic handling with vacuum to grap the product and a pressure blow to control how the product is detached on deposit.
Veltru is offering a range of rotary feed throughs allowing to pass the pneumatics while maintaining the possibility of the 4th axis to freely rotate without limitations.

The standard options include Venturi base systems with integrated vacuum generation as well as solutions for external vacuum generation with a pump like side channel blowers for large volume flow and rotary vane pumps for high vacuum level (2).  A fast connector system allows fast gripper changeover without further tools in applications requiring this flexibility. If needed, Veltru can also deliver grippers, typically based on additive manufacturing processes to have full flexibility and fast supply at affordable prices, even in small lots. Veltru can even provide customized suction cups or other silicone parts, if needed. Typical applications are delicate chocolates or biscuits (3) with toppings on which a traditional suction cup off the shelf is likely to leave marks or damages.

Many integrators have tried to improve the robot throughput by using multi-pick approaches. Thereby, the robot is picking products one after the other before depositing a full batch in the packaging (4). The main problem typically is how to avoid product collisions between products already picked and others on the conveyor. Traditional solutions use to lift the products with individual pneumatic systems. These mechanical solutions add weight and increase wear of the system, reducing the applicable accelerations of the robot. Veltru can avoid such collisions with software allowing much simpler mechanical solutions with simple suction cups only (5).
Another interesting approach is stacking the products within a bell shaped gripper with a large volume air flow. Especially flat, lightweight products with a consistent shape can be handled efficiently.
For applications with higher hygienic requirements, the vacuum tubes of traditional Delta Robot integrations often are a serious concern. Parts of the products will be sucked and will partially deposited on the tubing walls or even contaminate the vacuum generator. While particles can be filtered, water or other liquids with tiny particles will always find their way. For such applications, mechanical finger grippers, typically with pneumatic actuation, can be used. Alternatively, Veltru can offer single stage vacuum generators to be installed on the gripper, limiting the potentially contaminated subsystem to the gripper.
Regardless of the picking strategy, it is always important to ensure optimal presentation of the products to the robot. The Veltru C10 Motion Controller is offered with a source code Application Template including the features to control the flow of the products. The robot shall always have both products to pick and depositing cavities to place to avoid waiting times which reduce the through-put. The gripper design is key and often defines the productivity of the individual robot, especially in handling of non-uniform, delicate products like food. While every product is different and requires an individual approach, using standards reduces the risk and realization time of such solutions. A close collaboration between the end customer typically already very experienced with the individual behavior or his products, the integrator or machine builder with his segment knowledge and Veltru as a supplier of more than just robots sets it up for success.

The offer, in practise
The Delta Robots are robust and require little maintenance. Typical installations require little mechanical adaptations and the flexibility is given by the software. This reduces the risk of investments, as installations can be reconfigured in the future, if needed.
K.L.A.IN.robotics offers a range of 2 and 4-axes parallel robots ranging from the D8 with a workrange of 800mm diameter and 210mm height up to a D12H with a workrange of 1200mm diameter and up to 450mm height in the center of the workrange. The latter allows enough stroke to also enter cardboards in the secondary packaging. All robots are highly energy efficient requiring an average electrical consumption of about 0.5kW only and their lightweight design - the D8 weighs 45kg only - simplifies the rigid design of the supporting frame. If requested by the client, the Schaffausen based company also offers engineering and project specific support for programming, vision and for solving the handling.