Project 02

Fully automated palletizing

Delivery period: October 2013

The task
A company in the field of interior fittings, facade construction and insulation technology commissioned us to build a conveyor system. This was to palletise 6,000 mm long fibreboards, which were sawn into smaller pieces, on a special wooden pallet to save as much space as possible.

The challenges

an extremely short delivery time of only 8 weeks
to integrate the new solution into the existing conveyor system
to carry out all work outside the operating hours
to seal all moving parts due to the very dusty environment
only one plate dispenser to be used due to better handling
to maintain the cycle time, two pallets must be made available for stacking
to equip the idlers with linings that are gentle on the product

The Solution
The conveying process in the video

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Features

Conveying Elements: Roller conveyor
Strand conveyor
Converter and change of direction
Storage techniques
Convey Goods: Plaster Phase Plate Stack - 400 kg
Special wooden pallets - empty
Industry: Interior fittings
facade construction
insulation technology

The conveying process in detail

As the stacks have to be quickly lifted out, turned (max. 24 sec. / 2 stacks) and set down, a turnstile with Maltese cross gear was used. This is because it can turn 90° very quickly and precisely, start and brake gently and position the piles exactly on the pallet..

1. Two stacks of fibreboards move crosswise from a saw (not shown) to the feeding station.

2. A turnstile between the rollers lifts the stacks and turns them by 90°.

3. Then a stack is lifted again on the next roller conveyor and moved by a transverse shift. This separates the stacks.

4. At the end of the roller conveyor line the stacks are gripped and palletized. Important: Only one pallet at a time is fully stacked at a time!

5. The following procedure is provided so that the stacking process is not interrupted.

When stacking area 1 (following SP1) is full (the case in Fig. 5), the gantry system (PS) changes to SP2 with the stacking process on the empty pallet. The full pallet on SP1 moves to the delivery place (following AP), where it waits to be picked by a forklift truck. Then two pallets from the pallet dispenser move to SP1 and the reserve storage area (subsequently RP).

When the pallet on SP2 is full, the PS changes to the empty pallet on SP 1 and the full pallet on SP2 moves to the AP. The empty pallet on the RP now moves to SP2. When SP1 is full, the process starts again from the beginning.

Update

Expansion stage II

The customer was so satisfied that – after having invested about € 250,000 in this project – he extended the conveyor system only nine months after commissioning. The reason for this was that after the small-format gypsum fibre boards, the company now wanted to fully automate the palletising of large formats – with one and the same system. The ALFOTEC solution: We supplemented it with two gantry systems.

Grippers equipped with suction cups lift the boards (which are located on the roller conveyor already existing since expansion stage I) at an angle in order to release the vacuum between the boards lying flat. They then lift the panels vertically and transport them horizontally to the newly added lifting table opposite. A special wooden pallet is positioned on top of this, on which the panels are stacked with a tolerance of 0.1 mm up to the desired filling height or number of pieces. As you can see in the video, modern barrier techniques such as lifting gates and barriers ensure the safety of the employees.

With the expansion stage II, several goals were successfully implemented: The full automation of the palletizing, which was previously carried out manually in 3-shift operation, saves enormous personnel costs – with a noticeably higher capacity. In addition, the stacking quality has been significantly improved and is now – as desired – reproducible.

Technical details

1. Conveyed goods

The following goods are conveyed in front of and inside the palletizing portal system: fibreboard stacks, weight: 400 kg / pallet
The following goods are conveyed behind the palletizer-portal system: special wooden pallets, empty from the pallet dispenser, weight: 30 kg / piece

2. Scope of supply and services

Conveyor system
Palletizing portal system
Chain conveyor with pneumatic stroke
Chain ejector with pneumatic stroke
Roller conveyor AU120
Width-adjustable pallet dispenser
Control with SPS control and frequency converter
Assembly incl. commissioning and acceptance
Safety fences, emergency stop, electrically locked access door and a safety light grid Multingsystem at the pallet exit