BEUMER : High-Quality Swift and Stable Stacking

High-Quality Swift and Stable Stacking

BEUMER Group is single-source provider for filling, palletising and packaging technologies. The system supplier continues to pursue its ambitious goal of offering its customers solutions that are sustainable in every respect. To be able to stack bundles such as bags, cardboard boxes, crates, canisters or trays safely and economically, BEUMER Group offers the BEUMER robotpac, a space-saving, fully automatic articulated robot. This fully automatic articulated robot is able to solve even complex palletising and de-palletising challenges reliably and efficiently. BEUMER has developed fully automatic gripping systems that are easily exchangeable and suitable for each item to be packed.

Over the years, BEUMER has established extensive expertise in the design of grippers and control technology. Furthermore, the company offers solutions for filling, conveying, palletising and packaging from one source. This reduces the number of transitions in a project as a whole.

Different Grippers for Different Tasks

The fork gripper was designed for palletising bagged goods and cardboard boxes. It picks up the packaged item from a take-away roller conveyor and secures it using a holding-down device during transport. Once the target position on the pallet has been reached, the gripper opens with a horizontal movement and the push-off plate pushes the packaged item off the fork. The fork gripper features gentle product handling and precise placement of the packaged items. The double fork gripper was also designed for palletising bagged goods and cardboard boxes and picks up two bags simultaneously from a double take-away roller conveyor. Once the packaged item is placed on the pallet, the fork is raised and the tool approaches the target position for the second packaged item. The placement occurs consistently with the first fork''s stacking process. Once both forks have placed the packaged items, the tool returns to the pick-up position.

The finger gripper has been developed for palletising bagged goods. It takes the bags from hoist equipment on the take-away roller conveyor and carries it to the target position. Here, the fingers open while the slide plates remain in a closed position. This ensures that the bag is guided along the sides during the stacking process. The double finger gripper is a high-performance tool designed for maximum palletising capacity.

Parallel and Suction Grippers, Combination and Special Tools

The parallel gripper is a special tool for palletising cardboard boxes and other dimensionally stable containers with parallel side walls. The essential components are a fixed plate that functions as a limit stop and a pneumatically activated clamping device that pushes the cardboard box horizontally against the fixed plate.

The suction gripper is fundamentally able to handle all goods with suctionable surfaces. Bagged goods belong to the most frequently palletised products. The suction gripper places its suction head above the product and then lowers the suction head tightly against the product surface. The vacuum pump starts and creates a vacuum in the suction head. Then, the bag is picked up and transported to the target position. Air is released into the suction head and the bag is placed. The suction gripper is used for low palletising capacities.

In addition to these gripping systems, there is a large number of specialty grippers and combination tools. Special tools enable simultaneous processing of secondary tasks, including sheet or empty pallet placement on the conveying systems or barcode reading. Should the needs of the user be so specific that none of the standard grippers is suitable, BEUMER can design a system specifically for such unique requirements. Virtually all products can be palletised with a robot.

High Availability and Gentle Handling

The BEUMER robotpac distinguishes itself through its remarkable precision and availability, as well as through its gentle product handling. An ultrasonic system provides accurate measures of the stacking height, making it possible to calculate the exact placing position of the packaged items and stack these precisely and carefully. This precision guarantees an optimal stack configuration. The latter not only serves as a mark of quality for your customer, it also ensures high stability during shipping and storage.

System and control from one source

That the BEUMER control systems do not require special robot-related expertise - due to their user-friendly design - is also a key advantage. To enable operators to operate the BEUMER robotpac easily and quickly, the intralogistics specialist has equipped it with the BEUMER Group Human Machine Interface (HMI), an operator panel with an optimised user interface and optimised navigation, which creates easily understandable and intuitive interaction, enabling the user to define efficient working sequences. The operator can control the machine safely, independently of prior skills, training and capabilities, this saving time and money which ensures high economic efficiency.

Regulated by complex control mechanisms, the BEUMER robotpac can stack packaged goods of variable dimensions on one pallet. Individual programmes cover all packing patterns, so that complicated and tedious adjustments become a thing of the past. The switch to another programme with the BEUMER robotpac requires a mere push of a button. Thereby, the BEUMER robotpac optimises the material flow quickly and easily adapting itself to products of different sizes and characteristics.

Robust and empirically tested machine components, together with state-of-the-art geared motors, guarantee smooth operation. Therefore, the BEUMER robotpac is not only easy to maintain, but also extremely quiet. The performance can be enhanced cost-effectively. Equipped with an additional drive axle and an integrated motor connected to the control system, the BEUMER robotpac is freely movable on a guide rail. Consequently, it can be used in distribution centres for order picking tasks. The BEUMER robotpac demonstrates its reliability even in dusty environments typical of packing plants and of the building material industry.