Types of Robotic Packaging

The cycle time and prod­uct spec­i­fi­ca­tions will deter­mine which type of robot is nec­es­sary for an auto­mat­ed pack­ag­ing oper­a­tion. Par­al­lel and SCARA robots are ide­al for high speed pack­ag­ing and sort­ing, while artic­u­lat­ed robots are bet­ter suit­ed for pack­ag­ing large prod­ucts. What­ev­er the need, robots ensure pack­ag­ing process­es run more smooth­ly and efficiently. 

Most of the types of robot­ic pack­ag­ing are inher­ent in their names: food pack­ag­ing, bot­tle pack­ag­ing, case pack­ag­ing, tray pack­ag­ing, phar­ma­ceu­ti­cal pack­ag­ing, cos­met­ic pack­ag­ing, and vari­ety pack­ag­ing. Robot­ic pack­ag­ing accel­er­ates pro­duc­tion and improves hygien­ic con­di­tions in pack­ag­ing indus­tries. Robots ensure repeata­bil­i­ty, reli­a­bil­i­ty, and speed in their processes.

Robot type refers to the way the robot picks and/​or places the prod­uct from the incom­ing flow on the con­vey­or belt. The first type, col­la­tion, occurs when the incom­ing prod­uct is col­lat­ed in groups pri­or to being placed in a lug chain of a hor­i­zon­tal wrap­per, car­ton, or tray. Cross Belt indi­cates that the incom­ing prod­uct flow is per­pen­dic­u­lar to the out­go­ing flow, and Inline/​Parallel indi­cates the incom­ing flow is par­al­lel to the out­go­ing flow.

A top-loader robot picks the prod­uct from the incom­ing flow and places it in a case, car­ton, or tray. A side-loader robot loads the case from the side. A feed-plac­er robot picks the prod­uct and then places it direct­ly into a wrap­per infeed, ther­mo­former infeed, buck­et chain con­vey­or, or flighted/​pitched con­vey­or. A wrap-around robot is able to load car­tons or trays either hor­i­zon­tal­ly or on edge. 

Robot­ic pack­ag­ing is less time-con­sum­ing and more cost-effec­tive than their human coun­ter­parts. They also ensure humans are kept out of poten­tial­ly dan­ger­ous pack­ag­ing con­di­tions. Robots​.com can help you pick the right pack­ag­ing robot based on the type of pack­ag­ing used. Con­tact us today at 877−762−6881 for a free quote.