A team of Simplimatic employees recently returned from the largest packaging and processing trade show of the year, Pack Expo. At the show Simplimatic demonstrated Simplimatic® Beverage Conveyor; Simpli-Flex® modular conveyor; pucks from sister company, Advantage Puck® (APT); robotic puck handling; and a custom robotic palletizing system.
One of the products displayed at the show was Simplimatic® Beverage Conveyor. Simplimatic’s non-modular, stainless steel beverage conveyor systems are high-strength, high-speed, and easy-to-clean conveyor which has been industry standard well before the advent of the conventional extruded aluminum beam. The system at Pack Expo conveyed a variety of canned beverages which were being singulated and recombined in a loop using Simplimatic’s non-modular, stainless steel mat-top components.
At the show Simplimatic also displayed a conveyor and robotic automation line to convey and handle brightly-colored, custom pucks from APT. The line also incorporated a Universal Robot (UR5) which was carefully picking a product from a puck based on color, rotating the product for inspection using a Cognex vision system, then replacing the product. Further in the line a FANUC LR Mate 200iD was removing products from pucks, then loading and unloading them from boxes to demonstrate automated case packing.
Simplimatic is a registered integrator for FANUC robotics. Simplimatic’s expert engineers match companies with a robot with the correct payload, repeatability, speed, and service life to accomplish tasks such as:
- Palletizing
- Picking and placing
- Cutting and adhering
- Driving screws
- Sorting
- And Much More
Simplimatic engineers often program robotics to provide custom manufacturing solutions to solve complex production problems. One example of Simplimatic’s custom solutions was displayed at Pack Expo with the FANUC M-410iB/140H palletizing robot equipped with Simplimatic’s custom end-of-arm tooling (EOAT).
The EOAT was carefully programmed to easily and reliably pick up more than 6 different products of assorted sizes, shapes, and weights. The custom EOAT used dual gripper heads (controlled with two servomotors) equipped with strong, yet flexible fingers to hold products. The heavy-duty, slim fingers worked in conjunction with extendable suction cups to place a slip sheet on an empty pallet then rapidly adjust to pick up the variably-sized products. Torque sensors allowed the robot to move rigid items such as boxes of beverages then rapidly adjust the grip force for more pliable items such as toilet tissue.
“The palletizing robot was a big hit at the show because it demonstrated how Simplimatic’s robotics are highly-customized, reliable, and flexible solutions to solve a large variety of production problems,” Kevin Welsch, Simplimatic Marketing Manager, said.
Simplimatic provides conveyor systems, robotics, and custom factory automation to a variety of manufacturing, assembly, and packaging operations worldwide. Simplimatic’s headquarters is located in Forest, VA with many sales and service locations across the globe to provide service and on-time delivery to any customer location.