Food & Drink Process & Packaging Issue 30 2020 | Page 48

Unipaker variations make robotic crate packing as easy as 123 Brillopak has developed its awardwinning UniPAKer robotic crate packing platform with the introduction of single and triple-head versions of the system, following the success of its dual robot cells in fresh produce applications. The ability to incorporate one, two or three parallel arm delta robots into a single crate packing cell enables the design of flexible systems that strike the optimum balance between speed and gentle handling. “Whilst delta robot heads might boast mechanical speeds in excess of 120 picks per minute, such high speeds 48 FDPP - www.fdpp.co.uk can only be achieved in real life on very straightforward crate/case packing applications such as packs of biscuits. It is very unlikely that any packaging automation supplier who is handling delicate or awkward products like flow-wrapped apples, bags of carrots or tray-sealed meat would be able to achieve anything close to those kinds of speeds without damaging the product in the process, it simply isn’t possible,” says Peter Newman, Technical Director at Brillopak. He continues: “That is precisely the reason why we have developed single, dual and triple robot configurations for our UniPAKer packing system – to help our customers meet their performance and payback objectives without making false promises.” Working on the premise that most fresh produce packs – whether punnets of soft fruit, bags of sprouts or flowwrapped packs of peppers – can be packed into crates using a single robot head at speeds of 30-40 packs per minute, the UniPAKer can double or triple those speeds to achieve a customer’s target by adding a second or third robot.