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In Focus - Archivo Mayo 2008
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A package for everything
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01.05.2008 -
Packaging is a universal function that is required in practically every industry and meanwhile is so important that it has become a separate industry itself. The total volume on the world market for packaging machines in 2006 was 20.8 billion euros, with approximately 22% in Germany.
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A huge market has developed for packaging processes, which can be found at many levels and many points in the process chain; and most products are packaged not only once, but several times. These various packaging processes at different points of the intralogistic chain can be divided, at least for solid products, into three steps: picking, packing and palletizing.
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About 40% of the packaging machines sold on the world market are used for packaging foods, and another 20% for beverages. Likewise, 20% are use for the packaging of cosmetics, medications, hygiene products and household cleaning products, and the remaining 20% for tobacco products, building materials, commercial packaging and paper products.
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In the bag: picking, packing, palletizing
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Picking is the process of primary packaging, in which the product is picked up and placed in packages such as bottles, cans, boxes or bags. Generally the products are picked up from a conveyor belt, sorted or grouped if necessary, and then placed in the primary package. During this process the product comes into contact with the gripper, so that special requirements may need to be considered: for example, compliance with special hygiene requirements in the so-called white area in food production facilities to prevent adverse affects on the quality and shelf life of foods.
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Picking is followed by the individual packing processes, in which the primary packages are packaged in secondary and sometimes also tertiary packages. In the packing process, products are generally not only provided with an additional package, but are also combined to form larger packaging units. These units consist of tetrapacks, bottles, bags or boxes, which are delivered in cartons or trays; such packaging combinations make up more than 90% of all products sold in the food retail sector.
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These sorted packages are then combined in warehouses or distributing centers to form storage or transport units, for example Euro pallets or industrial or special pallets, or transport containers such as skeleton box pallets. The products are sometimes mixed with packages of other products before they are sent to the stores as mixed or sorted transport units.
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Automated processes required
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Although all stages of this intralogistic process can be carried out manually, they are usually automated for the most part today. While filling systems, packaging machines and boxing equipment are used for primary packaging, palletizing requires the use of robots, layer palletizers and various depalletizing machines.
The packaging technologies used have to fulfill two central requirements, which can be summarized by the two main concepts of highspeed and flexibility. Highspeed solutions create the prerequisites for effective handling of large quantities in a short time. However, highspeed applications are inextricably linked to lightweight components, because the lighter the weights to be moved the more dynamic the operation of the robots and parallel kinematics. The lightweight construction has to be taken into account already during the conceptual design of the components.
Flexibility, on the other hand, is an essential prerequisite for being able to quickly adapt the packaging processes to new situations; for example, to switch to a different product within a very short time. An automated system that can be switched at the push of a button not only saves the expense of manual re-equipping, but also reduces the production downtimes caused by shutdown of the system.
For all picking, packing and palletizing tasks Schunk offers a broad spectrum of products and automated systems, some of which have been specially adapted to the requirements for lightweight design, flexibility or hygienic safety.
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Modular lightweight design: LEG
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Long-stroke electric gripper LEG
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The newest highlight at Schunk is the long-stroke electric gripper LEG, which was developed especially for handling tasks in the packaging industry. In the conceptual design, the developers strived to combine light weight and flexibility in a modular gripper. To achieve this goal, all existing potentials for creating a lightweight design were exhausted and the supporting structure of the LEG system was adapted to the power flow with well-placed cut-outs to reduce weight – with the result that the LEG, weighing only 9.5 kg, achieves a gripping force of 1140N and a variable stroke of zero to 568 mm when operated with a servo motor.
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The LEG was designed as a modular system that is available with supporting side cheeks in various sizes. The connecting elements are also available in different widths, depending on the drive, and by varying the guide rails and slides the gripper can easily be adapted to a wide range of different tasks and loads. In addition, the LEG can be equipped with both pneumatic and electric drives. In choosing a motor, the user can opt for a servo motor from nearly any manufacturer. The main advantage here is that a robot manufacturer can operate the LEG with his own motors, which means that both the robot and the gripper can be controlled with the same command sets.
Additional grippers or vacuum grippers can be attached to the base jaws of the LEG, and a changing system additionally enables the fully automatic replacement of the fingers, so that the entire gripping system can be adapted with maximum flexibility to the respective task.
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Super fast: highspeed systems
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Highspeed systems are required wherever small-sized objects have to be handled at high speeds; this is the case not only with fast assembly and equipping processes, but also in many packaging processes. High speeds in handling tasks open up new economic perspectives, because the parts do not have to be pre-sorted or magazined. Instead, they can be placed as bulk material on a conveyor belt, where they are picked up at high speeds with the support of machine vision systems.
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The advantages of highspeed solutions have been demonstrated in the packaging of BiFi mini-salamis. SCHUNK, together with its development partner robomotion, equipped the highspeed parallel kinematics in use there with a specially developed triple gripper, which picks up three of the disarranged salamis in one operation and then places them on a deep-drawing foil for heat-sealing. The triple gripper is based on modified angular grippers of the SWG 32 series, which were mounted on an extremely strong and very lightweight supporting structure made of fiber-reinforced plastic to reduce weight. With an inherent weight of 69 grams and closing times of 20 milliseconds, the grippers are not only lightweight, but also very fast. Thanks to these fast grippers, the robots can handle 150 parts per minute in this application – a tremendous rate, especially considering that the process reliability in this case was increased approximately tenfold as compared with the suction technology that was used before.
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To further minimize these extremely short opening times, the grippers can additionally be equipped with specially developed tuning kits from Schunk. These innovative kits feature an additional pneumatic piston that accelerates the opening process by acting on the base jaw of the gripper during opening. This reduces the already short opening time by an additional 20 percent, and the gripping unit can put down the gripped product more quickly – with accordingly positive effects on the cycle times.
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A clean solution: grippers for stringent hygiene requirements
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LMG
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In no other sector is packaging required as intensively as in the food industry. Since high standards of hygiene are required in both production and packaging, Schunk developed the LMG angular gripper series, which is tailor-made for the hygiene-critical applications in the manufacture of foods and pharmaceuticals.
In developing this gripper, a comprehensive risk analysis was first conducted to thoroughly examine the possible biological, chemical and mechanical risks and therefore to implement the specifications of DIN EN 1672-2 in an exemplary manner.
The gripper is made entirely of 1.4571 steel (V4A) and has no coatings that can separate. It is absolutely corrosion-proof and resistant to acids, caustic solutions and numerous cleaning agents. The housing has no joints, undercuts or pits where foods or residue from cleaners could accumulate. The housing parts are joint-free and the seals were designed to ensure a complete and hygienic seal. All screw holes are covered with plastic caps, which are pressed in with no gaps to make the gripper easy to clean. Due to the external protection class IP 69K the gripper can also be cleaned using high-pressure cleaners with no danger of water or cleaning substances penetrating the interior. With these properties the LMG opens up new perspectives for the automation of processes in all industries that are confronted with cleaning or hygiene issues – and therefore also for more efficient production and a better competitive position.
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Visit us at Interpack: Hall 08b, Booth C27
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12.2008
Quick jaw change brings flexibility and substantial savings
Flexibility in production is a crucial competitive advantage. Only companies that can respond to demand with flexible yet absolutely precise production can supply their customers rapidly with a constantly increasing variety of products without needing to build up expensive and inefficient stocks.
 más…
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11.2008
Pneumatics or mechatronics? … It all depends!
To date, pneumatically driven gripper modules have been used primarily in gripper technology. Recently, however, more and more electric grippers have been coming onto the market. Both competing systems have powerful arguments in their favor.
más…
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10.2008
High-Performance-Cutting (HPC)
Hard on the outside, clever on the inside: Toolholder systems developed especially for HPC that have strong rigidity as well as good vibration dampening provide clear benefits for HPC.
más…
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09.2008
Cleanroom
The importance and the use of cleanrooms in assembly and handling are constantly increasing.
más…
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08.2008
Clamping Force / Torque
We are frequently confronted with torques on a daily basis, even though we do not recognize them as such.
más…
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07.2008
Convenient robot or attractively priced spindle gripper?
A significant potential for increasing efficiency in modern machining processes is the automated loading and unloading of the machines.
más…
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06.2008
Polygon clamping technology - round pegs in polygonal holes
The principle behind polygon clamping is surprisingly simple. The know-how that makes it work is however highly advanced.
más…
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05.2008
Packaging
A package for everything
Packaging is a universal function that is required in practically every industry and meanwhile is so important that it has become a separate industry itself.
más…
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04.2008
Magnetic clamping technology has strong attraction
Workpiece clamping with electroermanent magnets reduces set-up times by up to 50 percent and brings about significant advantages especially in the manufacture of large parts.
más…
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03.2008
Quick-change systems speed up production
Changing systems for components such as grippers and tools add a high degree of flexibility to production processes
más…
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02.2008
Vibration damping
Improves surface quality and reduces wear on the tool and spindle.
más…
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In Focus - 2013
In Focus - Archivo 2012
In Focus - Archivo 2011
In Focus - Archivo 2010
In Focus - Archivo 2009
In Focus - Archivo 2008
In Focus - Archivo 2007
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