Pneumatics cut packaging time

Pneumatic systems are helping to control a preparation line at Europe's largest tobacco products distribution centre based in Paris, with orders from wholesalers, shops, restaurants and kiosks handled through the centre at breakneck speed. The centre recently opened a new customer order preparation line, which is 80 metres long and has more than 60 unloading stations. Engineers from Hoerbiga-Origa, integration specialists and site engineers ensured that the control system for the new line was fully integrated to the site's IT system, so that individual customers can place their orders online and the central computer within seconds then generates a packing instruction and sends it to the packing line. The handling system is controlled via ASI bus and sorts cigarette cartons of differing brands, depending on the order, into boxes and then onto pallets. Between one and five cartons of each brand are 'shot' onto a fast-moving conveyor belt and then automatically put into packaging position and packed in accordance with customer specification or optimised by volume into boxes. The complete loading time lasts just 0.3s per loading operation. With fast response and reliability the critical factors, the design team decided on an architecture that used four independent, but integrated packaging lines. This allows a high throughput and gives virtually 'bombproof' redundancy should one of the lines go down temporarily. The preparation cycle within each unloading station starts by placing pre-sorted cartons against a stop, using two, single-acting cylinders. Then, a loading head that consists of five, 25mm bore OSP-P rodless cylinders (supplied by Hoerbiga-Origa) with a stroke of 340mm and a directly integrated valve, pushes the packs onto the conveyor. The downstream replenishment stop indexes a flap downwards to prevent reloading of the conveyor belt until the cigarette packs have been sorted again. Using this system, a single operator can fulfil an order within a one minute cycle time, whereas previously it took three people working for three to five minutes. This productivity gain is based on the key advantage of automatic replenishment, which Hoerbiga-Origa's engineers identified as critical for maintaining packing efficiency. Proximity sensors were used to control the filling level of the magazine and trigger the appropriate supplies.