Posted to News on 9th Mar 2006, 00:00
Packaging chocolate pralines
Because chocolate pralines are so fragile they require very careful packing - a challenging task for the machine designer. Gerhard-Schubert of Crailsheim, situated in the heart of Germany's 'packaging valley', manufactures packaging machines that are fast, safe and flexible, and the conveyor belts that carry the product along to the packing station are driven by Lenze frequency inverters.
The TLM top-loading machines are ideal for packaging individual products of any kind. The controls are found in the top of the machine allowing best possible access to all the moving parts. The packing is done below. A top-loading machine erects a carton from flat blanks, takes the product from the conveyor belt, places it into its packaging and seals it. The process is customised to each product and industry.
Schubert packaging lines are composed of ruggedly constructed, individual cells. Movable robot arms are suspended in the top section. The local Crailsheim population likes to joke about the 'robot heaven'. Every module operates on its own, self-contained controls designed in-house and based on microcomputers which communicate with each other by means of optical fibres. All the motors installed in the equipment are speed-controlled. The drive technology, including Lenze 8200 vector frequency inverters to drive the conveyors, is networked via Profibus and CAN interfaces.
When designing the top-loading machine, Schubert turned to Mother Nature for inspiration. The human hand was the role model. Robot cells had tools attached to their 'wrists' to grip items as varied as frozen food products, electronic components and cosmetics. The robots' arms are controlled by a vision system and can, therefore, distinguish between twelve different chocolates. However, most impressive is the delicacy with which the chocolates are handled so as not to cause any damage.
