GanTry roboT sysTem Pro04

Case Study
Gantry robot system
PRO04
The Task
Beverage commissioning made easy
A large US producer of soft drinks required a system
for putting together customer-specific combinations of
mixed beverage bundles at its Hamburg filling plant.
Roughly 60% of all PET beverage bottles produced
go on for further sale on pallets packed with one
type of product only, so goods warehouses have
product containers of one type only per packing.
When it comes to commissioning for wholesalers,
supermarkets and discounters, it is necessary to first
of all unpack these pallets and then to palletize them
again in a mixed combination of types. Up to now an
external logistics provider handled this task manually.
In the future an automated process will replace this
physically hard commissioning work and at the same
time increase product availability.
The Solution
For this purpose Langhammer designed and produced
a system for automatic depalletizing and repalletizing,
including a central bundle separating and mixing station.
Case Study Pro04 Gantry robot system
The central element of this mechanical processing of
commissions is a PRO04 gantry robot system with a
height of 6,800 mm and three two-axes sliding carriages
for depalletizing and repalletizing the bundles. The
entire drive technology and the central unit controller
come from Siemens or Rockwell.
Pallet handling and removal of packing film
A stacker brings the beverage pallets (always three
pallets simultaneously), each loaded with one type only,
crosswise into position at a transport height of 600 mm
onto one of the four-track chain conveyors provided
with ram protection. Each track handles a different
type of beverage and transports it program controlled
to the packing film removal station. “Here each pallet
is automatically scanned on two sides, registered by
the program and then manually freed of packing film.
Special packing film containers are positioned directly
at the platform for film disposal,” explains Hans-Jörg
Steffens, who in his capacity as Langhammer Area
Sales Manager is responsible for the project.
grippers always pick up an entire product layer and
set it down again at the central collecting station or
the palletizing area. The third robot axis transports the
half-pallet format cardboard interleaves from the original
pallet to the mixed pallet or to the recentering unit as
required. If a piece of cardboard is lost, it is replaced by
one from the intermediate paper storage system. Once
the depalletization of a pallet has been completed, the
gantry gripper automatically passes the pallet on in
lengthwise orientation to a downstream pallet transport
carriage that brings it to the empty pallet dispenser.
The separation of the product layers is also done in
lengthwise orientation and always in succession at
the central collecting station. On multiple module
belt conveyor lines running at different speeds 4 side
runners with vertically oriented belt conveyors separate
the product bundles. The resulting cascade of products
provides secure and rapid separation of even intricate
layer patterns. Format changes are not required even if
bottle sizes change.
Once the pallet has been cleared a built-in pallet shuttle
car brings it to the relevant pallet waiting location in
front of the depalletizing station.
All containers are arranged lengthwise on their way to
the container storage and are then sorted according
to product in buffer lanes. The infeed and distribution
of the PET units is handled by a special centrally
controlled servo unit in accordance with the actual
commissioning percentage per type.
Mixing station and transport preparation
Depalletizing and collecting
Depalletizing and producing the customer-specific
product mix are handled by the PRO04 with its three
sliding carriages. Two four-sided layer clamping grippers
pick the product layers and an axis positioned between
them handles the cardboard interleaves. The three
gantry robots with a fixed Z-axis travel independently
of one another but cannot pass each other. The
depalletizing and palletizing capacity of the system
is 2.75 product layers per minute. The layer clamping
Each of the four product buffering sections has an
average length of 10 meters ensuring that there is
always a half or an entire product layer in the infeed,
This corresponds to a time-based product buffer of
30 to 70 seconds. The individual beverage bundles
are clocked out with an upstream braking belt and
transferred to the track diverter. This receives them in a
time sequence determined by the control program and
passes them between two side rails forming a row. If
necessary, the products can subsequently be rotated
90° at a turning station. “Layer rows positioned in this
way result in the desired mixed pallet. The complete
layer is finalized by row push offs and compression,”
explains Hans-Jörg Steffens.
Usually customer-specific mixed pallets are half-pallets.
For this reason palletization is always done in pairs of
two. In the base configuration of the system there are
two empty pallet stacking points. Each stack consists of
30 half-pallets. The storage section can be extended by
adding pallet storage areas. The finished commissioned
pallets are transported lengthwise through the stretch
wrapper. The maximum wrapping capacity of the
modular double head stretch wrapper used is 80 pallets
per hour. Thanks to an additional wrapping head the
film roll can be replaced via a film change flap while the
system is running. After stretch wrapping the pallets are
automatically labelled on three sides and are clocked
out in crosswise orientation for removal in groups of
three with a fork lifter.
The Benefits
Langhammer’s commissioning system makes it possible
to palletize up to four different types of products
according to a specified layout pattern. All current PET
formats from 0.5 to 2.5 liters can be handled without
changing the format at the central layer separating
station.
Chain link conveyors in the product buffering sections
of the infeed assure storage ability and create a timebased product buffer of up to 70 seconds. Pallets are
scanned automatically on two sides at the pallet infeed.
Langhammer uses food-grade stainless steel machine
frames for the bundle transport technology.
Langhammer supplies the installation with the
Palletmaker program with stacking pattern generator
for layer grouping. The open program structure makes it
possible for the customer to set up new pallet formats
by himself. The commissioning system is controlled
from a central workstation. It is equipped with a hand
scanner and a color touch screen panel.
Summary
To increase product variety the beverage trade is
increasingly making use of commissioning with halfpallets. Langhammer’s gantry robot system fulfills
all the requirements this trend poses. It optimizes
item costs, increases process safety, provides
greater system availability and enables customers
to respond faster to trade needs. With this beverage
commissioning system Langhammer offers beverage
manufacturers as well as logistics experts a flexible,
reliable and economic automation solution.
Case Study Pro04 Gantry robot system
Langhammer GmbH
Siemensstraße 2
67304 Eisenberg · Deutschland
Tel. +49 6351 900-0
Fax +49 6351 900-180
www.langhammer.de
[email protected]
Gantry Height: 6800 mm
Conveying Height: 600 mm
Palletizing Capacity: 2.75 product layers/min
Unit Controls:
Siemens (or Rockwell)
© Langhammer - EN – 05/15 – 713. 37318
Technical Data