为了实现手动托盘装载操作的自动化，新泽西州韦恩市的伯雷克斯实验室转向了一种定制的机器人整理器/托盘装载系统。在固体剂量处方药制造商运行了一年多，机器人单位整理和装载片剂避孕药具箔/聚氯乙烯吸塑包装到瓦楞的过程中托盘。这台机器使Berlex能够重新部署手动装载的操作员。质量也得到了改善，因为水泡的处理方式温和、一致和可重复，从而消除了处理不当的可能性。在与几家供应商讨论了为其独特应用生产定制机器后，Berlex选定了Farason(科茨维尔，PA)，他的设计集中在Adept技术公司(圣何塞，CA)的AdeptOne机器人手臂。作为该项目的先锋，Berlex公司的工业/包装设备工程师Kevin Petro最初接触Farason，因为他对其提出的另一个项目的解决方案印象深刻，Berlex公司曾考虑过，但从未付诸实践。“我只记得，嘿，这是个聪明的主意。于是我就这个项目给他们打了电话，”他回忆道。包装在这台机器上的两种产品，Levlen®和Tri-Levlen®——两种不同配方的口服避孕药——每一种都有21片和28片的泡罩包装，重量轻带来了操作上的挑战。正如佩特罗所说，“机器人的概念起作用了，但问题变成了:我们如何把水泡放进这样的机器里?” Farason ended up designing a three-part feeding process that transitions a 5-up continuous stream of blister packs into closely grouped batches of 20 (16 for the slightly deeper-draw Levlen® package) in preparation for a robotic pick.
五个生产该过程开始作为完成，切割吸塑包装在5个以上配置的卧式热成型/填充/密封机器上以300/分钟的速度生产。吸塑包装被转移到一个短的传送带站，标准的乌尔曼，专为人工检查。它将吸塑包装翻转135°，以45°的角度显示给操作人员。手动检查后，包装自动输送到Farason机器的馈入。一旦在馈入，包站直，因为每个车道真的不超过一个插槽。在头顶的一系列连续运动的飞行杆的推动下，背包从上方向前推进。在整理器/托盘装载机控制吸塑包装后不久，每个通道之间的间隙就会缩小，这样，当包裹沿着进料段移动时，它们就会聚集在一起。当它们到达输入端时，它们被送到飞行索引带，每次飞行一个包，仍然站在边缘。皮带是搬运系统的第二阶段。一旦进入分度带，水泡就会以一个直角的角度向前推进，远离馈入甲板，朝向一个核对区。 When they reach the collating area, the third phase begins. A pusher arm advances, pushing a group of 10 blister packs off the indexing belt and into a holding area known as the pick box. The pusher arm repeats its cycle a second time so that the pick box holds 20 blisters. That group of 20 is now ready for pickup by the five-axis robotic arm.
托盘按需另外，可重复使用的过程中托盘，这是手动建立需要，手动放置在一个单独的飞行，倾斜的托盘进给输送机，以便几个托盘排队和准备去。当机器第一次启动时，两个托盘下降到一个较低的部分，这也是倾斜的，以便任何吸罩包装加载到托盘依赖于重力，以保持推到前面。机器臂以每分钟20个水泡的速度向下移动，将20个水泡分组。头部由一个夹子组成，从前部和后部轻柔而安全地闭合水泡。手臂然后提起包装和旋转到两个等待中的瓦楞过程中托盘之一。一旦在进程托盘，臂匹配45°角度的托盘。它将水泡储存在托盘中，然后返回整理区，取出另一批水泡。当机器人在装载区完成装载两个托盘中的一个时，完成的托盘就会被一个滑动的鞋跟推到外卖输送机上。同时，机器人开始立即装载另一个过程中托盘，已经到位。当这种情况发生时，一个新的托盘是分配从托盘进给输送机。 There were two key considerations in designing this machine. One was to have the collator/tray loader match the speed of the blister pack machine. To do this, Farason mounted an encoder on the drive shaft of the blister machine. It sends electronic signals to the Farason machine's digital motor speed controller that moves the flight bars. Thus, blister pack machine and collator/tray loader are always in sync. Also, in the unlikely event of a jam, the entire overhead flight bar assembly elevates upward and out of the way--at the push of a button--for easy access to jams in the infeed area. The second consideration was how to handle empty lanes caused by rejects from the blister machine upstream. Empty lanes would mean gaps in the indexing belt, resulting in incorrect counts once blisters are pushed into the pick box by the fixed-width pusher arm. To compensate, the Farason machine first detects any missing blisters via a sensor in each lane and causes blisters to transfer lanes as necessary to fill up the far left lanes. If, for example, lane 2 is empty but the rest are full, a series of metal gates along the infeed section would divert packs in lanes 3, 4 and 5 into lanes 2, 3 and 4, respectively, much like switching trains to adjacent tracks. The machine doesn't care if fewer than five blisters feed into the indexing belt; but it wants to avoid having an empty flight on the belt, since that gap would be "pushed" into the pick box, resulting in an incorrect count in the in-process tray.
最小的转换虽然Berlex包装两个单独的吸塑产品在生产线上，转换是最小的，因为吸塑包装之间的大小差异是轻微的。事实上，在PW访问的时候，Berlex正在调整其Levlen®包装的大小，以便它们与Tri-Levlen®水泡的长度和宽度完全相同。但由于Levlen®片稍厚，PVC热模上的拉伸比tril -Levlen®泡罩深约1毫米。因此，从tril -Levlen®转换到Levlen®需要指令机器的Allen-Bradley (Milwaukee, WI) SLC 501可编程逻辑控制，每次从分度带拉出两组仅8个水泡，而不是两组10个;类似地，机器人的控制器(由Adept Technology提供)由PLC指示，预期捡起16个泡罩包装，而不是20个。一个成品托盘包含96个Levlen®水泡，而稍薄的tril -Levlen®水泡包含120个水泡。这两个产品设置是预先编程的，涉及到触摸屏控制上的简单选择。不需要对机器进行物理更改。托盘手工装入托运人，在完成质量保证检查之前进行检疫。(目前的测试是外包出去的，但Berlex公司希望能尽快在吸塑机上验证其机器视觉系统，从而消除这一步骤的需要。) When the batch is approved, it's released for final packaging and shipment. That process involves manually placing the blisters and instruction pamphlets into high-impact polystyrene dispensing cases, which then convey to a cartoning operation where the prescription medications are packed three or six dispensers to a carton.
为什么流程托盘？那么，是什么阻止贝雷克斯放置吸塑成型与最终的分配器的情况下组装和纸箱?毕竟，这样的设置将消除对过程中托盘的需要，特别是当Berlex验证了检查系统，并停止了外部检查。Petro承认，这将消除对机器人整理/托盘装载机的需求，但他认为这将有严重的缺点。“如果你有一台每分钟能产生300个水泡的机器，你最好有一台机器或人能在一分钟内组装300个点胶盒，”彼得罗说。“而且，如果吸塑机今天坏了，那么我们的组装就坏了，我们的纸箱也坏了。另一方面，如果我们提前计划，增加一些泡罩产品的库存，那么我们就组装和纸箱，我们是有灵活性的，我们可以保持一个班次的操作。因为你持有一些存货，所以成本会高一点，但进行第二轮轮班的成本是多少?”他反问道。这台机器使Berlex能够重新部署劳动力到其他包装区域，执行合同外的工作。基于节省的劳动力，Petro估计这台机器两年就能收回成本。他补充说，项目成功的原因不仅在于包装部门，还在于包括采购、计划和材料管理在内的整个运营团队。 And most importantly, Berlex sought input from operators and maintenance personnel. "I want the people that live with this machine every day to be involved with it," Petro stresses. "Without that you could spend millions on it, but if the people who work with it don't like it, guess what? It isn't going to work." Next up: automatic dispensing case assembly. Plans are already in the works for Farason to build an automatic assembly machine that would open the cases, insert the blister packs, inserts and labels and close them. That machine is expected to be completed later this year.
