Transferring and buffering can lids

Trivium Packaging, manufacturer of metal packaging, was looking for a solution for the inter-buffering of can lids when setting up their new factory. By using robots as a transfer and buffering system, an entirely new application was developed together with DERO GROEP. This resulted in a simple and compact line.

In the high-tech production process of lids, it must be possible to buffer the lids between different processing stations to accommodate short stops. The lids also need to change running direction. To buffer the lids in separate strands, a stacking tray was devised, on which the strands are placed and which can be stacked on top of each other.

In addition, DERO came up with a unique solution to separate the strands with the robotic gripper. Through a combination of hardware and robotic movement, the separation is handled by the robot, which saves a lot of equipment on the conveyors.

The robot is multifunctional in this and takes care of:

• Separating the strands of lids
• Taking up the strands from various lanes
• Reversing placing the strands on the infeed lanes for the next operation
• Stacking empty trays and placing them on the buffer positions
• Placing the strands on the trays
• Emptying the trays and feeding the strands to the next operation
• Stacking of empty trays

By designing a robot gripper with an offset and being able to move it linearly, an extremely large work area has been realized in combination with laying the strands down again in reverse (relative to picking up).