No More Heavy Lifting
IEF-Werner GmbH now offers its palletiser systems not only as belt loaders but because the customer use of floor rollers increases, the automation specialist from the Black Forest creates its plants also for usage of transport wagons. Therewith, the companies are able to supply their machine with and discharge heavy pallet staples automatically – without any physical effort of an employee.
Furtwangen, 23.04.2019 – “Meanwhile, we design around 60 percent of our palletiser systems for floor rollers”, Stefan Deck, one of the two managers of IEF-Werner, says. With these transport wagons, trays or raw and semi-fabricated products loaded on a pallet can be transported from A to B. It must be possible to supply the products into further fabrication – for example with the help of palletiser systems.
IEF-Werner offers different palletiser systems. One solution is the modular varioSTACK, that can be tailor-made for every task. The user may drive the plant with the integrated IEF-product handling or connect it to an existing robot or handling system. The compact machines can be loaded with pallet wagons or transport belts by default – the band loading version even from the side.
Perfect for Floor Rollers
Clients increasingly ask the automation specialist for palletiser solutions that are able to load and unload floor rollers ergonomically. These flexible transport wagons become more attractive for many companies: they can be equipped with handles, can be raised on demand and created with sheet metal, steel pipe or grid wagons for different pallet sizes. “In order to adapt our plants, we worked closely together with a leading producer and competence partner for transport, lifting and handling”, Deck reports. The result: users can now operate the IEF-Werner palletisers safely with their different floor rollers.
Usually, trays with components weighing several kilos are on the transport wagons. For one specific application, a palletiser of the varioSTACK series is supposed to pick up rollers and hydraulic lifters for the assembly of motors and drop them on a connected production line of the client. The components are found in wash trays measuring 600 x 400 millimetres. Up to seven carriers are stapled on a floor roller. An employee puts the transport wagon in the first shaft and closes the door. A spring-loaded, prestressed appliance is mounted here and positions the floor roller exactly. An empty wagon for processed trays is found in the second shaft.
A vertical axis takes the highest load carrier and lifts it on the pallet table. A fivefold gripper, which is integrated in the plant, picks up the components column-wise and puts them on the transport belt. As soon as the tray is processed, the plant guides it back from the pallet table via a vertical axis on a second floor roller. When all empty trays are stapled on there, the door of the second shaft opens. The operator can extract the floor roller, put in a full wagon and start the process again.
With Ramp and Stroke Function
IEF-Werner also offers ramps with a stroke function. Those work like this: for one specific application, the employee drives the loaded grid wagon onto the ramp and presses the foot switch. The lifting station grabs with its profile through the grid floor and lifts up the load just so the user can push it on the transport belt without much effort. The trays go automatically into the plant and are processed in a row via a vertical axis, pallet table and product handling. The trays are extracted from the plant in the same way as they came in. When the staple arrives at the end of the conveyor belt, the user presses the second foot switch and thereby lifts the ramp so that he can push the staple on the wagon.
“We equip all of our plants, including the product handling of our clients, with control, valve terminal and maintenance unit”, manager Deck says. The PA-CONTROL Touch is able to control several servo axes as well as the integrated handling for work pieces. The user can get the floor roller via the IEF-partner on demand. Thereby they receive everything at first hand.