FEATURE FOOD PROCESSING & PACKAGING A SMOOTH AND SAFE SUPPLY OF FRESH EGGS
a product spacing unit which uses pneumatic stop gates to ensure there is a set amount of space between the cartons of eggs, or group of egg cartons, to allow for pack orientation or for repositioning into the correct lane. Chris Young, project engineer, CKF
CKF uses the latest in robot palletising technology to increase throughput, reduce costs and safely pack fresh eggs
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KF has designed, manufactured and installed an egg packing and
palletising systems for one of the country’s largest egg suppliers at two of its sites. The systems were commissioned to automate packing in order to reduce the number of eggs that were damaged, increase throughput and reduce the amount of manual handling involved, reducing costs and increasing safety. The systems are running smoothly and have improved the egg-supplier’s operations. The new system was installed into the
existing moba out-feed egg-packing system, which fills cartons of various sizes and materials and closes their lids. This previously fed the eggs to a manual packing station. The new system feeds the filled and closed cartons onto the out- feed conveyor – the set-up of which is determined by their current production requirements. The solution includes a vision system which verifies that the use- by date has been included and that the lid is closed. If the lid is not closed or the date is incorrect or missing, the product is rejected and sent to the reject conveyor for removal. Automating this process
means faulty product is removed swiftly from the line. If the product passes the test then the egg carton is transferred onto the collation infeed conveyor unit which transfers and orientates the product correctly ready to be conveyed to the box splitter unit. Where two packs of 6 egg cartons are joined and need to be split, the box splitter unit is used to split the cartons using a blade without damaging the eggs. The box splitter can cut both pulp and plastic cartons. The solution has
The systems were commissioned to automate packing in order to reduce the number of eggs that were damaged
Systems, said: “We encountered a number of issues through the planning and implementation of this project due to the variety in pack materials. Different materials behave differently on the conveyors, the system being able to handle different materials was absolutely vital so we utilised a combination of belt materials and surface textures to overcome this issue. We are used to working with a variety of different customers, all with unique requirements and we have the technical expertise to be able to adapt our systems to meet their needs.” A low back pressure chain roller conveyor
The cartons are correctly orientated by the sorting robot
Statistics show that 36 million eggs* are consumed per day in the UK
*The UK egg industry info produced by British Lion Eggs
https://www.egginfo.co. uk/egg-facts-and- figures/industry- information/data
PROCESS VESSELS HELP PRESERVE QUALITY MANUFACTURING
Thermal process solutions provider Holmach, has installed two further Roboqbo processors for Wilkin & Sons of Tiptree, a leading producer of preserves and condiments. The company’s range of products is broadening to include other premium sauces and spreads, hence the requirement for more Roboqbo units. Shane Waughman, operations manager at Wilkins spoke about their choice: “We evaluated a number of
different suppliers for our new project, despite already having experience of Roboqbo for sauces and condiments. We were determined to find the best solution for Wilkins’ premium products. This turned out to be Roboqbo which gave the best product quality and refinement. We have had good support from Holmach, so we were pleased to be able to take delivery of two more of the machines.” The Roboqbo range of cut-cook-cool process vessels are suited to
high quality, small batch manufacture. The inbuilt CIP allows both quick rinses or allergen cleans between batches. An interchangeable set of tools allow everything from milling and refining to mixing and aeration. Machine sizes range from 15 to 550 litres in size, with processes typically taking 15-20 minutes. The ability to cool products either through the jacket or using vacuum is also included. Holmach
www.holmach.co.uk 12
moves the egg cartons through to the robot sorting collation conveyor. An encoder is used to track the cartons’ positions, enabling the sorting robot to reposition the packs thus creating the required collation. The system utilises an ABB IRB1200 sorting robot system, which is programmed to arrange the cartons of eggs into specific patterns on the sorting modular belt conveyors as required by the packing robot. The type of carton and the type of container the cartons are being packed in determine the collation pattern the cartons are placed in by the sorting robot. Once the cartons are positioned on the conveyors, they are transported onto the collation conveyor unit. The cartons will be correctly orientated by the sorting robot. If the carton spacing isn’t what’s required by the packing robot then a collation servo unit uses pneumatic stops to ensure the spacing is corrected. There are two available product streams providing versatility in the pattern available for the packing robot. Once the egg cartons are grouped in the
required pattern the robot will pick the group of egg cartons from either stream and place them into the selected container for that specific production run. In the case of shipper/bulker containers, they are then removed by a forklift so they can be transported to the supermarket ensuring that customers have unlimited access to fresh eggs. Alternatively, if cardboard display cases are being packed, once full they are automatically discharged from the robot cell via a conveyor system and transferred for palletising.
CKF Systems
www.ckf.co.uk
OCTOBER 2020 | PROCESS & CONTROL / PROCESS&CONTROL
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