Merging Multiple Lanes of Juice Boxes - System Spotlight


This system was designed for one of our customers that wanted to de-case, waterfall, and combine the products into a single lane to load into their lunch kit. We solved this with several unique solutions. First, an operator first places the case of juice boxes onto the workstation. The case conveys to lift station with an overhead retractable blade stop attached to a vacuum head. When the vacuum lifts the case off the conveyor surface, the operator can easily remove the case from the individual boxes. The operator then presses the release button for the vacuum to lower and release the product. After release, the product waterfalls on a Shuttleworth low back pressure Slip-Torque® conveyor. The juice boxes accumulate to a pneumatic blade stop and are then diverted into separate guided lanes with the use of rollers and bands on a single conveyor surface. Now in six lanes, the juice boxes are combined into a single lane with the use of pneumatic blade stops and guides. The boxes are transported through a 180 degree turn on a tabletop conveyor and accumulated back on a Shuttleworth Slip-Torque conveyor, eliminating scuffing on the underside of the product during accumulation.