18 B ULK D ISTRIBUTOR
Loading & Bagging
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The Tip-Tite dumping system for drums
allows high-capacity transfer of materials
by automatically positioning, dumping and
removing of drums in repeated cycles
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lexicon’s new Tip-Tite Drum Dumping
System automatically rolls drums
containing bulk material into position, dumps
the material into downstream equipment and
rolls empty drums out of the dumping station,
allowing high-capacity transfer from drums of
all popular sizes weighing up to 340 kg.
Once full drums are rolled onto the dumping
station platform, a hydraulic cylinder raises and
seats the drum rim against a discharge hood. A
second hydraulic cylinder then tips the drum to an
angle of 45o, 60o or 90o with a motion-
dampening feature. At full rotation, the slide gate
opens to allow controlled discharge of material
into downstream process equipment. After the
empty container is returned to its upright position,
the rolling motion is reversed, and the container is
September/October 2018
halted in front of a pneumatically-actuated
pusher, which transfers the empty drum to the
return conveyor for removal. Meanwhile, another
full drum rolls into position on the dumping
platform.
Photoelectric sensors located along the powered
roller conveyor relay the position of empty and full
drums to the system controller, which actuates the
conveyor to advance full and empty drums on
completion of each dumping cycle.
The system is also offered in high-lift
configurations for dumping into elevated receiving
equipment, and in open-chute and dust-free
designs for dumping of boxes, bins, pails and
other containers.
www.flexicon.com
turnkey robotic palletising line from
Brillopak is claimed to have doubled
throughput at the Muntons malted
ingredients factory in Stowmarket, UK, and
in less than 18 months achieved a return on
investment by increasing efficiency and
reducing the maltster’s reliance on manual
labour.
Prior to the automated installation, the
Stowmarket mill was operating at maximum
capacity, producing 17,000 tonnes of whole,
crushed, flaked and milled malted ingredients
annually.
Used by the food and beverage industries, the
business has experienced significant demand for
malt ingredients, both domestically and
internationally, with high volumes being
distributed to Europe, North America, Russia,
South East Asia, Japan, Africa and the Caribbean.
“Increasing consumer demand for balanced and
fortified diets has meant food manufacturers are
using malt ingredients as a natural way to add
flavour and sweetness to products,” noted
Brillopak director David Jahn. Market analysts
expect the global malt ingredients market to
expand at a CAGR of 7 percent during the period
to 2021.
As a major supplier in the sector, Muntons
wanted to ramp up production and packing
capacity.
One of the bottlenecks identified by Muntons
was its palletising line, which stacks 25 kg sacks
of grain from two bagging lines, one manual and
one automatic.
The challenge was that the existing layer
palletiser wasn’t fast or flexible enough to cope
with the existing throughput. “We could only
ever run one bagging line into it,” explained
David Mercer, project engineer at the time of the
installation at Muntons. “In the past we’d been
able to get around this with careful planning, but
it had reached the point where we needed to
increase packing volumes.”
To facilitate a higher throughput, palletising
machine maker Brillopak designed a dual line
robotic palletising system incorporating a Nachi LP
130 four axis robot. Brillopak increased the robot’s
reach range within the compact factory footprint
and low ceiling area by mounting the robot on a
plinth. “This enables the robot to work around
obstacles like slipsheets and sacks,” commented
Jahn.
Sacks from two separate packing lines feed the
Nachi robot. Each line passes through a bag
flattener, metal detector and labeller onto a pick-
up conveyor. The robot feeds two different pallet
stations, each with its own pallet dispenser. In
order to cater to different sack sizes, the robot
head automatically adjusts and loads two pallets
at a time. Full pallets are moved down the line to
a stretch wrapper with hooder. From there they
are fed to a series of outfeed conveyors.
Palletising at least 600 bags an hour, the
Stowmarket site has more than achieved its
manufacturing goal of doubling throughput.
“We wanted 50 percent more throughput but
we got more,” said Mercer.
To minimise machine downtime and line
stoppages, Brillopak created and tested 65
different pallet load recipes for each robot line,
accommodating every conceivable combination
of bag size and type. “We wanted a robot that
would be easy for us to programme,” explained
Mercer. “Our operators appreciate the speed at
which product changeovers can now be
completed at the touch of a button.”
The entire system is driven from a recipe-driven
colour touchscreen HMI. Robot signals are fed to
the HMI meaning that there is no requirement for
the operator to use the robot pendant. For safety,
the system is zoned into two areas, with safety
guarding and CAT 4 light guards.
www.brillopak.co.uk
A Brillopack robotic palletising line should yield a return on investment within less than 18 months at Muntons’ Stowmarket malted ingredients
factory