Rotating and Positioning Cases for Robotic Pick - System Spotlight


This system was designed for one of our customers that wanted to transport, accumulate, index and rotate cardboard cases at a maximum rate of 30 cases per minute. Cases first enter the system in a single lane with the narrow dimension leading from an upstream conveyor. They then travel to a blade stop and accumulate. After one product is released from the blade stop, a speed change is incorporated to separate cases for indexing. Cases alternately travel straight or are pushed perpendicularly to an intersecting conveyor with a Shuttleworth designed pneumatic in-surface pusher. The cases traveling straight reach another blade stop directly over an in-surface lift-grid for rotation. Once the case is in place the lift-grid elevates the case and rotates 90 degrees before lowering the case back on to the conveyor surface. The cases in each lane continue to a fixed end-stop and accumulate. After the desired accumulation pattern is achieved, a pusher pushes the pattern of cases on to a stainless plate queue area where a customer supplied robot then removes that case pattern.