Flow Wrapping with Robotics In Feed

The Nexus flow wrapper with robotic infeed combines a horizontal flow wrapping machine with a robotic pick and place system that loads the infeed chain. Products are picked from a conveyor or tray and placed between the infeed lugs by the robot, so nobody hand-loads the wrapper. It is the automated-infeed model in the Nexus flow wrapper range, built for lines where products arrive unordered or where labour on the infeed is the constraint.

What it does

Products arrive in random positions on a belt. A delta robot pick and place cell above the belt locates each item, picks it and places it into the flow wrapper infeed chain in time with the chain movement. The wrapper then forms the film tube, fin-seals it and cuts each pillow pack at the end seal. Placement is repeatable to the millimetre, so packs are centred on the product and seal quality is consistent, which hand loading cannot match at speed.

Specifications

• Infeed: robotic pick and place from conveyor or tray, tracking the moving chain.
• Products: a wide range of shapes and sizes, from snack bars and bakery items to pharmaceutical and personal care products, with the gripper matched to the product.
• Wrapper: Nexus horizontal flow wrapper, speed set by product size and film.
• Integration: installs into an existing packaging line and takes its signals from the line controller.
• Support: programming, commissioning and maintenance support from Nexus.

Who it suits

Bakeries and confectioners where product comes off the cooling belt in random order, snack and bar producers running at rates that need two or three people on the infeed, and pharmaceutical or wipe lines where hand contact with the product is undesirable. The same robot cell can load trays or cartons downstream.

Related models

For frequent product and film changes, the four-servo flow wrapper stores every setting as a recipe. For small runs, the entry-level flow wrapper. For end-of-line stacking, the cobot palletiser. See the full robotics range.

Send us your product, how it arrives and your target packs per minute, and we will specify the robot and wrapper together. Contact Nexus Australia for a quote.