End of line Solutions

Central to the Abar pick and place systems is a flexible industrial robot which provides the main pick and place function. This robot is mounted within a compact stainless steel frame with product and outer case transport conveyors beneath. The slim line construction takes no more space than a conventional rotary packing table and maintains free access between adjacent packing lines.

Movement of the robot arm is fine tuned for each pack format to optimise speed and placing of the product within the outer case. Pack rotation is made during the flight to obtain irregular loading patterns dictated by retail pack dimensions. This function avoids the need for layer forming devices that often prove unreliable and less flexible when frequent pack size changes are required. Change over from one pack size to another is instantaneous; there is no mechanical adjustment and zero down time.

Coupled to the robot is a high speed dedicated communication processor with advanced storage, communications and networking capabilities; providing seamless integration between the pick and place cell, peripheral equipment and the ‘Factory Order Processing System’ (FOPS).

Commonly a vision system and weigh cell are integrated with the robot cell, providing a final check on the label position and printed data before the packs are loaded into the outer case. Pack and production data is verified through networking to the FOPS and additional statistical and managerial information supplied. This capability has massive cost saving potential for eliminating human error in the process of retail pack labeling. No longer do producers have to suffer penalties for incorrect labeling and product ‘give away’ is avoided allowing accurate planning on the production data provided.