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Robotic Palletizers and Depalletizers
Pacific Robotics specializes in robotic palletizers and depalletizers, both articulated arm and gantry. The Kuka, Motoman, and Fanuc robots designed for palletizing are all 4-axis, vertical articulated servo-driven robots. With the proper tooling these robots can be used for a wide range of products, picking up as many as 10-12 cases or containers and making split drops to form virtually any pallet pattern. Depending upon the number of split drops the robot must make, it can achieve line speeds as high as 50-60 cases per minute.
For depalletizing operations, vacuum tooling can be provided to pick up an entire layer of cases. Depending upon the line speed requirements, the robot can maneuver the tool and make split drops to form a continuous stream of cases or it can deposit the entire layer on a singulator, which in turn orients the cases in a continuous stream.
Our gantry robots are ideal for either a single line or more than 4 lines. The PR-70 series are designed for single line applications. By using production components, we can offer a cost effective palletizer for single line applications. For more than 4 lines, our custom designed gantry robots are used. For such applications, we can supply gantry robots with multiple robot arms to serve multiple lines if necessary to meet line speed requirements.
Another of our gantry designs is ideal for depalletizing empty containers and palletizing the same containers once they have been filled. By using a dual robot with two arms, we designed the gantry so that when the depalletizer unloads a pallet, it moves the empty pallet to a shared center bay where the palletizer can pick up the empty pallet for loading in its work area. The control system prevents the second arm from entering the shared bay when it is occupied by the first arm.
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Tooling
The key to a successful palletizing installation is the tooling. Pacific Robotics develops tooling for corrugated cases, pails, canisters, bags, bails, and bundles. The most common of these is tooling for cases. Typically, vacuum cups with compressed air venturi vacuum generators are used. By using multiple zones, different size and numbers of cases can be accommodated. This feature also enables us to make split drops, which are sometimes required to achieve maximum line speed with the customer's pallet pattern.
In order to provide the most cost effective installation, we typically include tooling to handle empty pallets. Upon completing a pallet load, the robot signals the outfeed conveyor to move the loaded pallet out for pickup and then moves the pickup head over to the empty pallet magazine. A pneumatic-actuated set of tongs engages the top empty pallet and deposits it on the loading section of the pallet conveyor. This way, the robot can maintain continuous operation with minimum operator involvement.
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