Our automatic tray packers are used for inserting cardboard cases into trays using Cartesian robots.
The tray packers receives the boxes from a feeding conveyor that makes them fall into a stacker that creates one or two rows of boxes.
The stacked boxes slide on a conveyor belt to the gripping point.
A Cartesian robot hooks the lid from a special warehouse and then hooks the rows of cardboard cases.
At the same time the tray opening device opens the tray on a conveyor; when the opening is completed,
the tray moves until it is inserted under the funnel (an element that facilitates the insertion of the cases in the tray).
The robot carries the single row or the two rows of cases at the funnel and inserts boxes and lid in the tray.
The funnel rises, leaving the completed tray free to exit the machine.
The tray machine can work in manual mode: the stack of trays are created automatically while
the operator opens the trays, inserts the stacks and also the lid.
The types of tray packers for cases are:
single row tray packer
double row tray packer
single and double-row tray packer
Essential features:
Productivity up to 90 cases / min
Cases per row max 15
Trays with one or two rows
Tray storage capacity 100pcs
Load trays and lids with machine running
Tray filling from the top
Download the pdf catalog of packaging machines
STACK CREATION
The cardboard cases arrive at the tray packers by means of a conveyor.
The cases must be spaced from each other.
A photoelectic sensor is installed on the conveyor, which carries out checks on the incoming boxes:
check on the distance between two boxes
check the length of the case
The same photoelectic sensor is used to check that the cardboard case correctly enters the pusher tube.
The push tube through a special inlet rotates the cardboard case vertically.
The case falls vertically and is pushed by a special ejector beside the other boxes to create a row.
The row is then pushed onto the cleated belt conveyor to be taken to the point where the robot will take the grip.
Some sensors check for jams caused by damaged cases.
TRAY OPENING
The tray former is designed to use trays with snap lock bottom (typically used in manual forming).
The tray store contains the closed trays with the opening upwards.
An arm with two suction cups opens the tray and a pneumatic cylinder forces the tray diagonally
to realize the "snap" of the bottom and obtain the lock in opening.
A free-fall pressure plate verifies correct opening.
Depending on the tray packer model, there may be one to three tray opening devices.
Operation takes place with a single device or with two devices.
INSERTING CASES
The tray packers can work in automatic or manual mode.
In manual mode, the boxes that arrive at the machine are aligned to create the required rows;
the rows are carried outside for manual insertion in the tray opened by the operator.
In automatic mode, the tray, after opening, advances on the tray conveyor up to the loading funnel.
The funnel is inserted with two fins in the tray to facilitate the entrance of the cases.
The row (s) of boxes are taken by the robot's gripper which, after taking a lid, takes the rows,
carries them over the funnel and inserts them with the lid in the tray.
Depending on the models you can have:
taking a row and inserting it in a single row tray
or taking two rows and inserting them in a two-row tray
taking two rows and inserting them in two single-row trays
In the case of taking two rows and inserting them in two trays, the gripping element must remove the two rows
after the gripping, in order to be able to insert them in two separate funnels.
MODELS
The tray packers differ substantially in three models according to the number of tray opening groups: one, two or three groups.
The model with a single opening device can fill both trays with one or two rows.
It is possible to manage both trays on the same machine even if the machine setup is not easy,
having to replace the gripper device of the robot.
The use of a tray packer with an opening device with single-row tray leads to a significant reduction in productivity.
In fact, the number of moving cases per machine cycle is halved.
The model with two opening devices works with single-row trays.
The robot gripper attaches two rows of cases and inserts them in two separate trays.
The two opening devices feed two separate funnels in which the robot simultaneously inserts the cases.
The machine has a productivity of up to 90 cases/min.
The three opening devices tray packer is the union of the two previous models.
It can work with an opening device for trays with two rows or with two devices for one-row trays.
The machine setup is automatic from one tray to another.
Productivity is always 90 cartons / min.
Clearly the cost of the machine is significantly higher than that of the two previous models.
ACCESSORIES
The tray packer can be supplied with a label applicator that seals the lid to the tray.
The seal is applied on both sides of the tray.
The application takes place downstream of the funnel, before the tray leaves the machine.
