A packaging line at an ergonomic height? Even semi-automatic, but safe

During the production of the line, we thought about the safety of workers and equipment

A leading manufacturer of components in the automotive industry needed to upgrade the space that houses the input material, the packing point, the stock of shipping boxes and the output of the packed material. We created a total of four workstations - three non-driven and one driven. We used pneumatic lifts, stoppers and many moving pulleys. These make even the non-driven sections rather semi-automatic. The operator still has to push the handling unit, but the movements of the stoppers and the traversing pulleys work with the help of pneumatic logic circuits. This makes the solution safer. It protects both the person operating it and the device itself.

100% control 43 cm above the ground. We have created a new standard for the semi-automatic turntable conveyor on a lift in our 30-year history 

The workplace consists of roller conveyors, turntables, hoists and pulley tracks. Everything is as compact as possible. In the design of the new solution, we had to take into account both the limitations in terms of the length of the workplace and its height. For example, we placed a roller conveyor, a turntable and a scissor lift in a 430 mm high space.

We have created a platform that is surrounded by conveyors on the turntable on the left and right. On one rests the stock of material for packaging and on the other the already packaged material. At the inlet is a roller conveyor where a forklift puts the pallet of products. It either goes over itself (in the case of a driven workstation) or is pushed by the operator (in the case of a non-driven workstation) onto the turntable, from which the material is removed to the table.

In the preparation of the changing line, we have thoroughly focused on the issue of safety and protection against human error. The turntables needed to be fitted with stoppers that reliably stop pallets of different sizes. They are operated only pneumatically, but still work automatically thanks to a mechanically controlled pneumatic valve. The pallet that comes on to the turntable passes over the backstop, which presses the pneumatic pulley and thus gives the impulse to activate the stopper.

The solution also includes a practical crossing bridge

We also had to solve the issue of the pallet transfer from the turntable to the exit conveyor. For the transfer, the conveyor needs to be close to the turntable. However, the turntable needs a turning space around it, in our case 500 mm. We therefore used crossing pulleys. These open to form a crossing bridge. By turning the manual switch, a whole series of movements takes place - the stopper on the turntable goes down to allow the pallet to exit the turntable, the pulleys between the turntable and the exit conveyor open and finally the stopper on the last conveyor goes out to prevent the full pallet from falling. All this is done with the help of pneumatic logic circuits that prevent damage in the event of operator error.

The customer left us free to determine the colour of the equipment ourselves. We decided to match the moving parts to the colour of the hoist and leave the conventional conveyors in a practical anthracite colour. This is not so prone to soiling, so the equipment is still as good as new after all these years.

Are you interested in our solution? Contact us. We will be happy to prepare a customized proposal for you.