ATM Automation & ILPRA Combine Experience for PPMA 2009

In addition to sharing an exhibition stand at this year’s event, ATM and ILPRA have collaborated to develop a live exhibit which will be the focal point of the stand and of interest to many of the visitors to the show. At the core of this live system is an ILPRA model F3 thermoforming machine. Designed as a completely “mechanical” machine, the F3 uses considerably less energy than conventional machines thanks to a very limited use of compressed air. This mechanical heartbeat drives the F3 at speeds of up to 40 machine cycles per minute, providing unrivaled performance for machines of this type. Add to this, the capability to produce up to 4 tray impressions per cycle and the output from the machine is an impressive 160 trays per minute.

Complimenting the F3 machine will be a fully automated system based upon a six axis robot system, vision inspection system and centrifugal feeding system produced by ATM Automation Limited. This fast and highly flexible automation system has been designed to handle products such as frozen meat, chicken or fish portions or individual items which require collation and packing, including burgers and sausages.

A non-contact gripping system has been developed to pick multiple items, as required for the individual package and product configuration, re-pitching them if required prior to loading to the trays on the ILPRA F3 Machine. The combination of the 6 axis robot and multi-gripper configuration enables the automation to achieve rates in excess of 320 items per minute thus allowing multiple items to be loaded to each tray. The stainless steel food grade centrifugal feeder presents the items to a linear section where they are checked for orientation by a vision system prior to being picked up by the ATM MC20 robot. This concept offers many benefits including the compact footprint, reach and payload capabilities of the six axis robot and the ability to feed and process a wide range of different food and non-food products at impressive line speeds.

In addition to this live demonstration system the stand will also showcase several other ILPRA systems including; a wide range of tray sealers. These machines range from bench mounted examples to an in line Speedy machine incorporating the newly developed ‘Pro Gas’ concept, which can realise in excess of 40% savings on gas and greatly reduced cycle times. This Speedy will also have depositors mounted on the in-feed to simulate products being dosed into the trays prior to sealing. ILPRA will also be showing a servo driven Leopard series vertical bagging machine and an FS2500 rotary pot filling system,
Visitors to the show can locate ILPRA and ATM Automation at PPMA 09 on stand number E10 between the 29th September and the 1st October.