While automated palletizing often uses industrial and collaborative robot arms, other methods promise greater payload and throughput. Festo Corp. this week introduced a heavy-duty Cartesian gantry system with lift capacity of up to 440 lb. (199.5 kg), Z-axis stroke lengths exceeding 8 ft. (2.4 m), and speed of up to 5 ft./sec. (1.5 m/s).
The Islandia, N.Y.-based company said its novel palletizing system can shorten project time plus reduce engineering and assembly costs. It also offers free online design tools and quick assembly kits, as well as off-the-shelf servo drives, motors, and other components.
For more than 50 years, Festo has offered U.S. manufacturers pneumatic and electromechanical systems, components, and controls for process and industrial automation. The company said its motion control systems can improve equipment performance and profitability.
In addition, Festo Didactic Learning Systems and its partners offer technical and industrial education to prepare workers for current and future manufacturing technologies.
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Gantry system offers unique advantages, says Festo
“Robust, high-rigidity electric actuators provide the core of this new solution,” Festo asserted.
These actuators include the cantilevered Z-axis EHMH rack-and-pinion actuator for loads up to 440 lb. (199.5 kg) and the ELCC toothed belt actuator with ball-bearing guides for loads up to 220 lb. (99.7 kg). For an X-axis solution, the company said its EGC-HD heavy-duty toothed-belt or ball-screw actuator is suitable for most heavy duty applications.
Cartesian gantries are lower-cost than six-axis robotic palletizers, noted Festo.
“They offer superior accuracy and speed whether handling a small load over a long reach or a heavy load over short distances,” it said. “Unlike six-axis robots that lose accuracy and lift capacity at the periphery, gantries cover the entire workspace with equal accuracy, speed, and performance at each point on the X/Y axes. Cartesian palletizers offer a smaller footprint than six-axis robots, a plus for today’s smaller and more compact operations.”
OEMs, system integrators, and end users can use Festo’s free online design tool, Handling Guide Online (HGO), to specify a gantry in as little as 20 minutes, the company added. Engineers can input application parameters such as distance, speed, torque, and weight, and HGO will offer a range of systems to choose from based on performance and cost.
HGO ensures interoperable components that are accurately sized for the system, according to Festo. Matched components can reduce risk and improve performance, it added.
Each gantry has a single unique overall part number, making reorder of any component under that number a quick and accurate process, said the company.
At the end of the specification session, HGO provides 2D and 3D CAD files, parts list, quotation, and expected delivery date. Having the CAD files allows system design to continue while the gantry’s ready-to-assemble kit is prepared, Festo explained.
Control components designed for ease of use
Along with HGO, companies can use the Festo Motion Control Package (FMCP) software to design the control panel, which arrives pre-built. Users can simply connect the cables and program the robot using function blocks. Crews can complete the initial set up in hours or days, not weeks, claimed Festo.
The Festo Cartesian palletizer include components such as the compact CMMT-AS servo drive, which now supports EtherNet/IP, PROFINET, EtherCAT, and Modbus TCP protocols. CMMT-AS drives are in stock and ready for shipment. “These drives provide seamless interpolation and motion control,” Festo said.
The CMMT drive family — from 300 Watts to 12 KW — offers a single multiprotocol series covering a wide range of motion-control challenges. stated the company.
For control, a single CPX-E Codesys-based controller can manage multiple synchronized gantries while communicating with third-party controllers. The compact size of the CPX-E makes it an alternative to the larger controllers required to manage multiple articulated robots, said Festo.
In addition, the company offers the CDPX HMI (human-machine interface), which features an IP67 rating for on-unit mounting, increasing ease of use and reducing space in the control panel.
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