emkon. robot cell for sensitive food products

emkon. has developed a packing cell for shrimps which is equipped with a high-speed-robot by Stäubli. The robot, type TP80 he, places the sensitive shrimps into trays. It combines hygienic process, intelligent automation and high efficiency. The shrimp cell serves as blueprint for the hygienic primary packaging of sensitive unpacked foodstuff.

In close cooperation between the sensor specialist Sick and the robot manufacturer Stäubli, emkon. has developed an innovative packing cell. The cell, which was designed for packing shrimps, sets standards regarding hygienics, efficiency and output. Ralf Köster, project manager at emkon., points out one special feature: “The shrimp cell is a kind of standard cell, which can be qualified for other products in the food and pharmaceutical sector with only a few modifications. Key elements like robot, image processing and the like remain unchanged.”

Process: The shrimps reach the packing cell via vibration feeder and are submitted onto a conveyor belt. A centrally above the belt located Sick 3D image processor (type Trispektor1000) tracks the shrimps in conjunction with the rotary encoder. After the position of each piece has saved, the exact coordinates are submitted to the Fast Picker TP80 he. The latter picks up the shrimps with its vacuum gripper and places them correctly positioned according to packing patters into trays. The four-axle fast picker is responsible for the performance of the entire packing cell. It achieves more than 200 picks per minute. In a specific seafood application, in which the machine takes over an extra task, it packs more than 80 shrimps per minute. A remarkable achievement means Köster: “Thanks to the efficient Sick image processor with 3D laser triangulation; this enabled us to transmit a wide range of tasks to the TP80 he. It not only receives information about the position of the shrimps, but also about their height and volume. These differentiators open up the possibility, to sort out too small shrimps. In addition, the TP80 he is able to build an attractive arrangement in the trays and can contribute to observe uniform packing weights.

With standard cycles the TP80 he reaches more than 200 picks per minute in practice. This also applies for sensitive production environments such as in the food and pharmaceutical sectors. This is made possible by the special designs of the fast picker, that are available for a short while. By choosing the options HE and H1, the known four-axle is becoming a high-speed robot for sensitive packaging machines. HE stands for Humid Environment and marks the types, which are modified for the impact of splashing water. Without any problems they cope with the food industry's typical intensive cleaning processes and its detergents of various ph-values.

The option H1 stands for the use of food grade oil. The special feature: By contrast to the competitors’ products that are coping with a reduced perfomenace due to the use of "NSF-H1" oils, the fast picker TP80 he can be operated by the usage of special oils with unabated performance. Stäubli developed the special oil in close cooperation with a lubricant manufacturer.

“With this packing cell, we show how efficiently foodstuff can be packed under hygienic conditions. And thanks to its modular design, it can easily be increased by the integration of further robots”, Köster sums up.

Author: Ralf Högel, freelance journalist
Copyright: "dei - Prozesstechnik für die Lebensmittelindustrie" Magazine