Robot loves ice cream

Citation

(2001), "Robot loves ice cream", Industrial Robot, Vol. 28 No. 2. https://doi.org/10.1108/ir.2001.04928bad.008

Robot loves ice cream

Robot loves ice cream

Handling ice cream all day long is no problem for a Fanuc robot after it had been "suited up" to cope with the manufacturer's –26°C storage freezer. The machine involved was a M410i robot that was used to palletise assorted ice cream products and novelty items from a number of in-feed conveyors (see Plate 7).

The robot itself was a standard machine that had been enclosed in a protective "suit" that kept the robot and its servo axes at an ambient temperature above that of the freezer. Warm air is supplied to the suit when the temperature inside drops below the robot's normal minimum operating temperature of 0°C. This enables the robot to cope with external temperatures of –30°C.

Plate 7 The Fanuc robot "suited up" to cope with the manufacturer's -26°C storage freezer

The only other concession to the operating temperature may be if the gripping forks are used at the end of the robot arm. In a more conventional environment, these would be pneumatically actuated. Compressed air can contain moisture; to eliminate potential problems caused by frozen and blocked air lines, the fork grippers use electric linear actuators. In all other aspects it is a conventional palletising robot.

The maximum load capacity for the robot ranges from 100kg to 400kg. Even the one with the highest capacity operates at high speed. It can perform up to 730 standard cycles/hr. A standard cycle comprises a 400mm lift, 2,000mm horizontal traverse followed by 400mm down. With such a lifting capacity, it is the ideal solution for "complete layer" lifting of cases.

The robot follows the same configuration as other Fanuc palletising models with an over hung arm. This means the robot always accesses the in-feed or pallets from the upper surface. With a general purpose articulated robot there is always the risk of collision with the front of the pallet, when reaching to the back. The Fanuc M410iWW configuration eliminates this possibility.

Using the 360° rotation on the base or J1 axis, one robot can service a number of in-feed and palletising stations. Pallet envelopes can be 1,600 x 1,600mm square by 2,100mm high, alternatively, higher 1,300 x 1,300 square by 2,450mm high pallets can be configured.

During a 15 week evaluation the robot proved capable of handling 4,800 half-gallon ice cream pails wrapped in units of four per hour. Alternatively, it could handle 2,400 five-quart pails wrapped in units of two per hour.

The control system was located outside the freezer. Coping with different product ranges and sizes was no problem for the PalletTool software. The operator only has to enter the unit size of the cases or packs to be palletised and the maximum pallet dimensions. The system then worked out the optimum stacking pattern for effective freezing or a secure load which interlocks for maximum capacity.

Early results indicate significant savings in direct labour costs and improved personnel utilisation. Removing labour from subzero temperatures brings its own obvious benefits. The ability to handle multiple product in feeds and pallet stations with a single robot was reflected in high robot utilisation even during product change over.

The pallets can be stacked with spaces for effective freezing and cases orientated with "Labels out" on the pallet to ease identification.

For further information contact Maurice Hanley, FANUC Robotics (UK) Limited, Seven Stars Industrial Estate, Wheler Road, Coventry CV3 4LB, UK. Tel: +44 (0) 24 76639669; Fax: +44 (0) 24 76304333.