Case: OCTOPUS 2 - Robot Unit for Handling and Packing

The Octopus 2 robot cell has been developed for thermoforming machines with medium capacity. It contains two robots of which one puts stacks together and moves finished stacks to the foil welder. The other robot handles cardboard cartons, puts sleeves in cardboard cartons or directly onto pallets or into gitterboxes.

The Octopus concept consists of standardized robot cells for packing of prefabricated parts. A robot cell is put together of the necessary tools for the specific task and the work is performed efficiently like by an octopus, hence the name. The utilization of the robot is so high that KILDE A/S has won the prize “ABB Global Partner Program for robot based automation” for best robot performance.

The robot cell is designed to take up least possible production space. Therefore all peripheral equipment has been designed to be included in the area of the robot cell itself. The robot cell functions as “end of line automation” in connection with thermoforming injection moulding machines. The robot cell is adapted to the individual thermoforming machine models and after installation the whole equipment appears as a unit.

Stacker

In order to obtain the required stacking height it may in many cases be necessary to stack two or more stacks coming from the thermoforming machine into one stack. The robot picks up the stacks and puts them in a stacker. Hereafter the stacks are transferred to the foil welder. If required the stacker can rotate the stack 90°.

Foil welder

The stacks are moved into the foil welder. The foil welder welds/cuts off the foil. Via the control it is possible to change the welding parameters such as welding temperature, welding time and cooling time. After the welding there is no excess foil, which has to be disposed of, and the finished sleeve is now ready for palletizing.

Palletizing

The robot picks up the finished sleeves from the foil welder and puts them directly on to a pallet (scantainer/gitterbox).