Ready to brew

Schneider Packaging, a producer of end-of-line case packing and palletizing equipment was recently named the winner of the 2006 Rockwell Automation Extreme Machines contest.

The company was chosen from a pool of contestants based on the innovation it demonstrated in developing its next generation of machines.

Schneider packaging used Rockwell Automation control system solutions to create an end-of line robotic handling system for a premium coffee roaster. The machine cartons, labels, case packs and palletizes 280 individual K-cups of ready-to-brew coffee each minute, all within a mere 300 square feet of valuable factory real estate.

To deliver big performance in a small space, Schneider Packaging relied on Allen-Bradley Ultra 3000 servo drives and MPL motors to operate the two side-by-side timing screws that count the appropriate numbers of cups for each carton.

Another Ultra-3000 drive operates a rotary cartoner, while a series of air cylinders agitate the carton to allow the K-cups to settle properly in the box. The cartons are sealed, dated and arranged for the casing robot, which assembles and presents the cases to a labeller before loading them onto a pallet.

The cartoning, labelling, casing and palletizing processes are managed by an Allen-Bradley ControlLogix Programmable Automation Controller (PAC).

Across the Atlantic, a machine with big scale and even bigger integration was selected as European winner of the Extreme Machines competition.

Stork Townsend was selected based on innovation within its massive 33-foot by 6-foot by 20-foot sausage maker. The company standardized on Rockwell Automation technology, including 60 Allen-Bradley PowerFlex variable speed drives, 18 Kinetix 6000 multi-axis servo drives, a CompactLogix PAC, and a ControlLogix PAC, to process 4,840 pounds of meat each hour. Despite the machine's size, it is managed from start to finish by a single operator.

The Extreme Machines contest is sponsored by Rockwell Automation and asks readers of Control Engineering and Design News magazines to select the winning machines.

For more information on the Extreme Machines contest, please visit http://www.rockwellautomation.com/solutions/oem/index.html.