Robotic Bottle Unscrambler and Sorter

The KWT robotic bottle unscrambler and sorter uses vision-guided SCARA robots to pick randomly presented bottles, orient them and place them upright in line for the filler. It replaces manual unscrambling on lines that run many bottle formats, change over often, or handle glass and fragile containers that a mechanical sorter cannot. Also called an automated bottle unscrambler, a robotic bottle sorter or, when set up for spray heads, an automated trigger and spray unscrambler. Supplied and supported Australia-wide by Nexus.

Also known as

• Robotic bottle unscrambler or robotic unscrambling machine
• Automated bottle sorter or vision-guided bottle feeder
• Automated trigger unscrambler or automated spray unscrambler, for trigger sprayers and spray heads
• KWT unscrambler

How a robotic bottle unscrambler works

Bottles are tipped in bulk onto a feed belt, where they arrive in random orientation. A camera above the belt locates each bottle and reads its orientation. The SCARA robot picks the bottle with a gripper or vacuum tool, rotates it upright and places it in a puck or directly onto the outfeed conveyor in single file. Two or more robots share the work on faster lines. Because the robot is told where each bottle is by the vision system, there is no sorting disc or bottle-specific tooling: a new bottle is a new program and a gripper change.

Key advantages

• Precision: the vision system positions bottles accurately throughout the process, so orientation errors at the filler are close to zero.
• Versatility: handles PET bottles for soft drinks through to glass containers for sauces and spirits, and irregular shapes a mechanical sorter would jam on.
• Trigger sprayers and spray heads: picks and orients trigger sprayers, pump heads and dispensers for the capping machine, which are difficult to sort mechanically because of the dip tube.
• Integration: works with existing conveyors, fillers and cappers, and can be retrofitted to a hand-fed line.
• Adaptability: reprogramming changes between bottle types or production demands without mechanical rework.
• Labour efficiency: automates bottle handling and removes the repetitive job that hand-fed lines struggle to staff.

Features

• SCARA robots (Omron): fast, accurate four-axis arms suited to pick-and-place of bottles.
• Vision system: locates and orients each bottle on the belt before the pick.
• PLC control with touchscreen panel: recipes stored per bottle, settings adjusted from the screen.
• Quick changeover: program recall plus gripper change, minutes between formats.
• Heavy-duty stainless steel frame: built for harsh production environments and washdown.

Robotic versus mechanical unscrambling

A mechanical bottle unscrambler rights bottles with a sorting disc and change parts, and is the lower-cost choice where one or two plastic bottle formats run for long periods at steady speed. The robotic unscrambler costs more but wins on lines with many SKUs, frequent changeovers, glass containers or awkward shapes, because changeover is a program change and the gripper does not care what the bottle is made of. The bottle unscrambler range page sets out the four questions that decide between them.

Where it fits

At the very front of the bottling line. Bottles arrive in bulk, are oriented and fed in single file, then move to filling, capping and labelling. The same robotic cell can also unscramble caps, pumps and trigger heads for the capper.

Industries served

• Beverage: bottling for soft drinks, juices, water and alcoholic beverages, including glass.
• Pharmaceutical: medication bottles, vials and containers handled to regulatory requirements.
• Food: condiments, cooking oils and sauces in PET and glass.
• Personal care and household: bottles with trigger sprayers, pumps and dispensers.

Tell us your container types, how many formats run on the line and your target output, and we will confirm whether robotic or mechanical is the right answer. Contact Nexus Australia for a quote on a robotic bottle unscrambler.