From one hand

Manufacturers wish to be able to fill and package their products cost-effectively and flexibly, even in small quantities. A compact, complete system allows a wide variety of products and batch sizes packaged on the same production line, including fast format changeovers and 3D-printed format parts available at short notice. 

Today, the cosmetic industry demands great agility and the shortest possible time-to-market. However, many existing systems were not designed for this and require a complicated and time-consuming retooling of the machines for every product or format change.

Picked up

The agile vision system with high line efficiency was built based on proven TLM system components. All individual parts of the packaging such as bottles, caps, brushes, and pumps are fed via a conveyor without the need for format parts. By using a 3D camera system, it was possible to fully dispense with conventional feeding systems such as centrifuges with their very long set-up times and enormous size.

The 3D camera system detects the unsorted and partially overlapping objects three-dimensionally. A pick-and-place robot picks up these components with pinpoint accuracy (“gripping into chaos”) and places them onto the transmodul. This takes the components to one of the two programmable filling stations, each with six filling points. 

Filled

The system has two filling stations, as this allows cleaning times to be shortened and enables the filling of two-phase products. Each filling station is connected via its respective filling needle to an F3 robot, which is freely programmable and therefore allows maximum flexibility within the system.

Depending on the filling medium, it is also possible to fill above or below the predefined level. Also, to cover the widest possible viscosity range and achieve high filling accuracies, the plant uses a volumetric filling process with eccentric screw pumps in the new plant.

Cleaned

Moreover, the eccentric pumps can be combined very well with the possibilities of CIP cleaning (Cleaning in Place) – without requiring any disassembly. A corresponding CIP system with two heatable deionised water tanks, which allow up to five cleaning agents to be added, is integrated. If required, the filling system can also be sanitised (cleaning and disinfection process to significantly reduce germ counts) and then dried. 

Controlled

The system stands out with many functionalities for the precise inspection of the products before they are packaged ready for dispatch. After filling, for example, the system immediately tests whether all products have the desired weight – if there is an unacceptable deviation, the 
corresponding product is immediately rejected.

The affected filling point can be readjusted fully automatically via the shift register in the scale’s 
tendency control. The products are then sealed.

When capping bottles with screw caps, the system also precisely monitors whether the set torque is reached too soon or not at all. If this is the case, the bottle is also rejected directly during this step. 

Labelled

A labelling station, which is fully integrated into the packaging machine, applies a front and back label or a 360° label onto the products. For this purpose, common linear system was combined with that of a rotary system. This combination makes it even more flexible and agile.

Essentially, six products are always inserted into the linear system during labelling. Depending on the requirements, each product can also be rotated individually by a servo drive. At the same time, the products 
are centred during insertion, which also eliminates the tolerances for glass bottles. 

Packaged

The outer carton is erected and loaded with the products in a single operation. For this purpose, the erecting die produced in the 3D printing process picks up the pre-grouped products. In parallel, a flat blank is placed onto the folding frame. Subsequently, the flat carton blank is pressed through the folding frame with the help of the erecting mandrel, which also has the products contained within it.

The mandrel then retracts, whilst leaving the products inside the newly formed carton, which is then closed, labelled, and palletised. The main advantage is that tighter packaging is possible as transport protection. Also, the process step of separate loading can be dispensed with, which in turn saves costs and space.

Without a single external interface, at the end of this efficient line the finished pallet with the sustainably and efficiently packed products, is now ready for dispatching. As an alternative to the carton, products can also be packed into plastic crates. These can then in turn be used for special packaging or for manual packaging for test markets. 

3D printed

In addition to the short format changeover times, another reason for the high agility of the vision system is 3D printing. Except for the magazine plate, all interchangeable parts are 3D printed parts. In the future, the manufacturer can print spare parts or completely new format parts itself, what safes time and money and offers more flexibility.