Casepacker communicates with filling system

Flexibility regarding varieties and packaging types
Economical line operation
Integrated storage function
Specially developed cartons of a particularly high quality

Requirements

Flexibility regarding varieties and packaging types

Quick packaging of butter tubs into trays and “zip & crack” cartons:

For the packaging of butter tubs, MEGGLE uses a line with a freely programmable mixing function and flexibility when switching between different packaging sizes. Additional advantages include the integrated storage function and the cooperation between robots and Transmodul when loading the cartons. The butter tubs are packed in particularly high-quality cartons developed by Schubert together with MEGGLES’s packaging supplier specially for this purpose.

Solution

Transmoduls ensure product variety

The Schubert line can efficiently pack up to 200 butter tubs per minute into trays or “zip & crack” cartons. Transport takes place quickly and flexibly along two Transmodul sections: the cartons are transported on the first section and the tub formations are built on the second. As an additional feature, an integrated buffer also makes it possible to maintain the correct proportions of tubs of salted and unsalted butter in each pack, even when there are fluctuations in production. This is done by a pick-and-place robot that places excess tubs into a buffer and indicates to the filling machine that the product proportions need to be corrected. Subsequent to this, the robot takes the tubs in waiting position.

From the design of the robots to the ease of size changing, from the buffer function to the open VMS control architecture, this machine is clearly superior to those offered by the competition.

Holger Kühner

Technical Manager at Meggl

Technical Details

Efficient, flexible and high-quality packaging

While the butter tubs are fed into the machine, a three-axis robot removes the carton blanks from the magazine. A two-axis robot takes these blanks, which are supplied with hot glue on the bottom, presses them through a folding frame and positions the erected cartons on the Transmodul section. The cartons are transported on the first section and the tub formations are built on the second. The tubs pass underneath an incident light scanner, which communicates their shape and position to the two four-axis pick-and-place robots. The use of image processing is important not only for quality control purposes, but also to ensure that the image printed on the packaging is aligned correctly. The pick-and-place robots pre-group the tubs. Subsequently, the Transmodul moves into the loading area, where an F2 robot takes the tubs and places them into the carton trays positioned on the first Transmodul section. The proportions of salted and unsalted butter can vary, as well as the tub shapes.