Pacepacker uses 3D printing for robot end effector
Pacepacker Services has used 3D printing to create a gripper to pick up bottles on the packing line of a global hand hygiene company, as part of a huge automation project that has more than doubled the company’s output.
One of the key challenges was the packing line needed to handle up to six different wholesale-sized occupational hand sanitiser bottlers. Pacepacker commercial and information systems manager Paul Wilkinson says: “Around 70% of case loading applications use vacuum, yet as there’s no significant area on the top of each sanitiser bottle we designed a mechanical solution that grabs hold of the top of each bottle in two rows, in one movement.”
Pacepacker believes this could be the UK’s first installation of an adaptive gripper that picks up and gently places a full layer of heavy bottled products (weighing between 1kg and 4.5 kg each) into boxes using this method. “The end effector is a truly innovative and unique feature,” says Wilkinson.
In order to create this end-effector, Pacepacker used the very latest 3D modelling and 3D printing technology on this project. “In many applications we now use 3D to create specific tooling, fixtures and grippers rather than relying on standardised components,” says Wilkinson. “In this instance, we sculpted and 3D printed a gripper to suit the handle of the bottles being picked up.”
Increased line packing speeds
The gripper was one element of an overall project to help the hand hygiene company automate the case erection, loading and palletising tasks previously performed manually. Wanting to improve the versatility of its production plant and increase line packing speeds, the company brought in Pacepacker to automate two labour intensive manual packing production lines and palletising operation, creating a centralised, fully automated turnkey line.
Comprising 15 individual elements and featuring products from nine different original equipment manufacturers (OEMs), this is one of Pacepacker’s most complex, largest and innovative projects. By solving the factory’s reliance on multiple workers overseeing each packing element, Pacepacker estimates that it will cut annual workforce costs by around £400,000 a year.
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