Cobots are Collaborative robots that are cost-effective, safe, and flexible. They are the perfect addition to automation on most production lines.
One of our clients required line upgrades and decided for both production and safety reasons to install a Cobot station at the end of their production line to fold and fill boxes with their product.
Why did the customer decide to install a cobot?
The customer runs a small to medium size business and production line which they wanted to upgrade and make safer for their staff by reducing the likelihood of repetitive strain and accidental injuries. However they didn’t have the same availability of money to invest that larger manufactures may have. We held a number of consultations with the client where various options were discussed including the installation of a cobot. This solution appealed to them for the following reasons:
Cobots give manufacturers many of the benefits of advanced robotic automation, without some of the extra costs that may be associated with traditional robots such as long set-up and the need for shielded work cells or safety guarding.
Cobots can make automation affordable for small start up companies, for small-batch production runs and for companies that require mixed product assembly.
They are lightweight, space-saving, and easy to re-deploy to multiple applications without the need to change their production layout. This now gives the client the agility to automate even small batch runs and frequent line change-overs.
How this Cobot works:
The cobot picks a flat box and folds it using a multi head gripper and a folding system.
The gripper will then pick a layer of product trays from the conveyor and places them into the box.
Any trays that can not be picked will continue down the line as to not interfere with production.
Once the cobot has filled the box it will push the full box through a guide rail system and through an automatic taping machine to tape the box closed.
The boxes are then ready to be placed on a pallet to be transported to their customers.
As can be seen in the above image there is no guarding around the cobot this is not required as it is designed to work safely at a slow speed with people.
The necessary staff were fully trained on how to use the cobot and all found it very easy and straight forward. Both management and staff are delighted with how much safer and effectively their line is now running with the addition of this cobot.
