GanTry roboT sysTem Pro04

Case Study

a large US producer of soft drinks required a system for putting together customer-specific combinations of mixed beverage bundles at its Hamburg filling plant. roughly 60% of all PET beverage bottles produced go on for further sale on pallets packed with one type of product only, so goods warehouses have product containers of one type only per packing. When it comes to commissioning for wholesalers, supermarkets and discounters, it is necessary to first of all unpack these pallets and then to palletize them again in a mixed combination of types. Up to now an

external logistics provider handled this task manually. In the future an automated process will replace this physically hard commissioning work and at the same time increase product availability.

The soluTion

For this purpose Langhammer designed and produced a system for automatic depalletizing and repalletizing, including a central bundle separating and mixing station.

The TaskbeveraGe commissioninG maDe easy

Case Study Pro04 GanTry roboT SySTEm

The central element of this mechanical processing of commissions is a Pro04 gantry robot system with a height of 6,800 mm and three two-axes sliding carriages for depalletizing and repalletizing the bundles. The entire drive technology and the central unit controller come from Siemens or rockwell.

Pallet handling and removal of packing film

a stacker brings the beverage pallets (always three pallets simultaneously), each loaded with one type only, crosswise into position at a transport height of 600 mm onto one of the four-track chain conveyors provided with ram protection. Each track handles a different type of beverage and transports it program controlled to the packing film removal station. “Here each pallet is automatically scanned on two sides, registered by the program and then manually freed of packing film. Special packing film containers are positioned directly at the platform for film disposal,” explains Hans-Jörg Steffens, who in his capacity as Langhammer area Sales manager is responsible for the project.

once the pallet has been cleared a built-in pallet shuttle car brings it to the relevant pallet waiting location in front of the depalletizing station.

Depalletizing and collecting

Depalletizing and producing the customer-specific product mix are handled by the Pro04 with its three sliding carriages. Two four-sided layer clamping grippers pick the product layers and an axis positioned between them handles the cardboard interleaves. The three gantry robots with a fixed Z-axis travel independently of one another but cannot pass each other. The depalletizing and palletizing capacity of the system is 2.75 product layers per minute. The layer clamping

grippers always pick up an entire product layer and set it down again at the central collecting station or the palletizing area. The third robot axis transports the half-pallet format cardboard interleaves from the original pallet to the mixed pallet or to the recentering unit as required. If a piece of cardboard is lost, it is replaced by one from the intermediate paper storage system. once the depalletization of a pallet has been completed, the gantry gripper automatically passes the pallet on in lengthwise orientation to a downstream pallet transport carriage that brings it to the empty pallet dispenser. The separation of the product layers is also done in lengthwise orientation and always in succession at the central collecting station. on multiple module belt conveyor lines running at different speeds 4 side runners with vertically oriented belt conveyors separate the product bundles. The resulting cascade of products provides secure and rapid separation of even intricate layer patterns. Format changes are not required even if bottle sizes change.

all containers are arranged lengthwise on their way to the container storage and are then sorted according to product in buffer lanes. The infeed and distribution of the PET units is handled by a special centrally controlled servo unit in accordance with the actual commissioning percentage per type.

Mixing station and transport preparation

Each of the four product buffering sections has an average length of 10 meters ensuring that there is always a half or an entire product layer in the infeed, This corresponds to a time-based product buffer of 30 to 70 seconds. The individual beverage bundles are clocked out with an upstream braking belt and transferred to the track diverter. This receives them in a time sequence determined by the control program and passes them between two side rails forming a row. If necessary, the products can subsequently be rotated

90° at a turning station. “Layer rows positioned in this way result in the desired mixed pallet. The complete layer is finalized by row push offs and compression,” explains Hans-Jörg Steffens.

Usually customer-specific mixed pallets are half-pallets. For this reason palletization is always done in pairs of two. In the base configuration of the system there are two empty pallet stacking points. Each stack consists of 30 half-pallets. The storage section can be extended by adding pallet storage areas. The finished commissioned pallets are transported lengthwise through the stretch wrapper. The maximum wrapping capacity of the modular double head stretch wrapper used is 80 pallets per hour. Thanks to an additional wrapping head the film roll can be replaced via a film change flap while the system is running. after stretch wrapping the pallets are automatically labelled on three sides and are clocked out in crosswise orientation for removal in groups of three with a fork lifter.

The benefiTs

Langhammer’s commissioning system makes it possible to palletize up to four different types of products according to a specified layout pattern. all current PET formats from 0.5 to 2.5 liters can be handled without changing the format at the central layer separating station.

Chain link conveyors in the product buffering sections of the infeed assure storage ability and create a time-based product buffer of up to 70 seconds. Pallets are scanned automatically on two sides at the pallet infeed. Langhammer uses food-grade stainless steel machine frames for the bundle transport technology.

Langhammer supplies the installation with the Palletmaker program with stacking pattern generator for layer grouping. The open program structure makes it possible for the customer to set up new pallet formats by himself. The commissioning system is controlled from a central workstation. It is equipped with a hand scanner and a color touch screen panel.

summary

To increase product variety the beverage trade is increasingly making use of commissioning with half-pallets. Langhammer’s gantry robot system fulfills all the requirements this trend poses. It optimizes item costs, increases process safety, provides greater system availability and enables customers to respond faster to trade needs. With this beverage commissioning system Langhammer offers beverage manufacturers as well as logistics experts a flexible, reliable and economic automation solution.

Langhammer GmbHSiemensstraße 267304 Eisenberg · DeutschlandTel. +49 6351 900-0Fax +49 6351 900-180www.langhammer.deinfo@langhammer.de

Case Study Pro04 GanTry roboT SySTEm

Technical DaTa

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Gantry Height: 6800 mm

Conveying Height: 600 mm

Palletizing Capacity: 2.75 product layers/min

Unit Controls: Siemens (or rockwell)