KHS Maschinen- und Anlagenbau, a technological leader in the field of filling and packaging technology in the international beverage trade, has announced that it is to expand its sphere of activities into palletising solutions.
Aside from the beverage industry, the food and non-food trades represent other potential areas of application for the innovative KHS modular dry area concept recently launched to the market. The food industry's acceptance of the packaging and palletising solutions designed according to the KHS modular concept is substantiated by decisions made by sugar producer Pfeifer & Langen and dairy product manufacturer Danone to implement palletising solutions from KHS. The company says that the decisions made by these two food companies have set milestones in the food trade.
Pfeifer & Langen is soon to start installing two new KHS palletisers. Of the machines to be installed, one is a new Innopal PBL gantry palletiser with level compensation designed for the low capacity range (output of up to 180 layers per hour) and the other is a high-capacity Innopal PB HS gantry palletizer likewise just recently launched to the market equipped with a pallet elevator and two-piece palletising plate. Danone also relies on the Innopal PB HS palletiser capable of processing up to 430 layers per hour.
Each of the palletisers is controlled by a PC-based control computer. Thus, the company says, only one intelligence is used for complete control. Direct, real-time communication links and computer-guided sequences of motion guaranteeing higher cycle intervals and maximum precision when scanning travel profiles. Another advantage of modern PC-based robot controls in conjunction with the absolute displacement measurement system that simultaneously ensures maximum positioning accuracy is the lack of sensory components.
This positioning accuracy in conjunction with the related reproducibility is an equally decisive characteristic for palletising packages of sugar as it is for palletising yoghurt trays for example. Prerequisite in both instances is form-fit pinpoint locating.
KHS says that its modular design dry areas provide other advantages in addition to the wide-ranging benefits of using PC-based robot controls. Only toothed belts are used to generate horizontal and vertical movement, which, aside from decreasing the noise level, means low-maintenance and gentle handling of materials during processing. The modular design of the mechanical parts and the plug-and-socket connections of the electrical equipment contribute toward reducing the time required for installation and ensure fast replacement or expansion of individual modules as needed.