The Scara Robot You Don’t Expect

Thanks to the potential of two Comau Rebel-S Scara robots, Siscodata has designed an innovative filling line with self-assembly boxes

Siscodata was founded in 1974 and, after over twenty years of experience in the Textile sector, it began specializing in automated handling systems for the General Industry. This transition to a different sector that covers multiple applications in a variety of industrial environments was made possible at the end of 1990s, when the company chose to integrate Comau robots within their solutions.

Ing. Giorgio Brambilla, R&D Manager Siscodata Italy - Technical Department, said, “This step forward has allowed us to grow both on the national and international market, so much so that we now install and provide remote assistance in every part of the globe.”

Comau robots are employed in approximately 90% of the robotized systems designed by Siscodata, which is one of the main integrators of Comau solutions in the field of packaging and palletizing. The application introduced by Giorgio Brambilla is related to a mini assembly line which was designed for the pharmaceutical industry and includes the following stages: box assembly, placement of plastic containers, instruction kits, and accessories inside the boxes, closing. In the case of dentists, the boxes must be filled with primary products, namely 250 or 450 g containers, the relative instruction booklet and any additional kit needed to create a complete package for professional operators who work in specific environments, e.g.: a hospital. “We do not fill the containers in this application,”

Mr. Brambilla specified. “We only deal with secondary packaging and handling, which means that the product has already been packaged, either in a plastic container or in a bag. That’s when our system takes charge of it for the boxing, labelling and palletizing stages.”

Why Comau’s Scara robot

The automatic machine is a packing line of self-assembly boxes featuring five processing stations, two of which are equipped with Comau Rebel-S Scara robots combined with three Cognex vision cameras that cooperate with the Comau robots.

“Comau’s Scara robots have only been on the market for about a year and a half, and our application has proven to exploit them at best. They allow us to base our system exclusively on 4-axis handling at a competitive price, a feature which combines with their speed and excellent performance,” underlined Giorgio Brambilla.

The Rebel-S Scara robots are integrated in the second and third work stations. The procedure takes place as follows: after a program is chosen according to the type of box appearing on the LCD panel, the first robot picks the containers from the production line and puts them inside the box, which is pre-assembled in the first station. Then, the second robot picks an instruction booklet – or a kit bag containing tools such as a dispenser, a teaspoon, instructions etc. – and places it on top. The fourth station is dedicated to the ink-jet printing of the production lot, logo and expiration date. Immediately afterwards, a camera checks that the filling and printing processes are performed correctly and then the last station closes the flaps and lid of the box.

“In the era of Industry 4.0, this system allows us to record every box we fill in a server, resulting in total product traceability. The machine has a remarkable capacity of twenty complete boxes produced every minute.”

We asked Giorgio Brambilla why Siscodata chose Comau’s Scara robots over others existing on the market.

“Before Comau created their Scara robots, we integrated products made by other manufacturers. This is precisely why, based on my personal experience, I can say that Comau’s Scara robots undoubtedly provide advantages when compared to others available on the market. First of all, Comau has transferred the open and flexible programming experience of its articulated robots into its Scara robots, so that they can perform many more tasks. Another important advantage is that the Rebel-S Scara robot has a battery that saves its position even when it is switched off. When switched off, it is also possible to move it by hand, making cleaning and maintenance operations easier. Furthermore, the mechanics is particularly strong and solid compared to that of other Scara robots, and it allows to suspend the robot as well.”

Rebel-S is the name of Comau’s Scara robots. There are five models in the range, which differ from each other depending on their horizontal reach – from 450 to 750 mm – and the mounting position – some of the models can be wall mounted. Among the features which are common to all models are the 6 kg payload, 200 mm vertical reach and weight of 20 kg. Rebel-S Scara robots feature the IP 10 protection class and an optional IP 54 protection class.