Track and shuttle with an eye to new markets

B&R’s innovative transport system applications are generating interesting growth opportunities for machine manufacturers.

M. Costanza Candi

The new developments proposed by B&R enrich the ACOPOStrak, SuperTrak and ACOPOS 6D mechatronic systems, adding to the portfolio application areas focused on markets ranging from food to medical, to pharmaceutical.

ACOPOStrak with new shuttles

The shuttles are optimised for fluid functioning and low wear, and can be used together with existing transport units, offering greater precision and opening the way to applications in sectors such as the assembly of batteries for electric vehicles and medical devices in which precision, especially on light components such as catheters and insulin pumps, is essential. ACOPOStrak is, moreover, available with IP69K-grade protection and in a washdown version, in which the track can be cleaned with high pressure and temperatures up to 80°C, offering total protection of the powder in order to respond to the strictest hygienic requirements and standards.

SuperTrak: an angle makes the difference

The new curved segment at 90° allows SuperTrak to offer more layout options with reduced dimensions, opening up track design possibilities, allowing machine manufacturers to insert a number of workstations inside the track, instead of outside it.

ACOPOS 6D: aesthetic and hygienic shuttles

A more aesthetic and hygienic version of ACOPOS 6D arrives with a new generation of shuttles conceived to produce small lots in the most diverse sectors in a cost-effective manner. The new magnetic levitation shuttles also meet the highest standards in terms of hygiene and cleanliness for the operator.

From food&beverage, to cosmetics, to pharmaceutical products, the rigid hygiene regulations make every square metre of production space precious, especially in contexts such as clean-rooms where the planar product transport system simplifies the setup of processing stations and allows for higher output in a smaller space.

Benedetta Torres, B&R marketing and communication manager – interviewed at the recent edition of SPS Italia - comments on this particular application:

«B&R’s response to the growing demand for filling solutions in a pharmaceutical context stands out among the numerous applications that we have chosen to exhibit in the trade fair, and which will soon be displayed in the new Orange Lab showroom. The planar features of the ACOPOS 6D benefit solutions such as liquid bottle handling systems, generally carried out in clean-rooms, where a reduction of space is a must. The shuttles are supplied in stainless steel with totally washable surfaces.

The liquid application, moreover, demonstrates the effectiveness of a solution such as ACOPOS 6D, which not only moves and weighs, but is also equipped with an anti-lapping system that makes it possible to limit dispersion of the product. It is worth mentioning, finally, that the flexibility of movement intrinsic to the shuttles reduces the need to use mandrels and tools for closing the containers, which is performed by the shuttle itself with a rotation action that essentially changes the paradigm of the filling line».