Category: Industry
WMH has recently installed a machine for picking and placing cheese. The system is designed to collate and load individually wrapped portions of cheese into boxes, for a family-owned cheese producer. The system takes individually wrapped portions of cheese at 120 pieces per minute and layers them into boxes of 144 pieces. With a compact footprint the unit reduces the packing operation to a single operative.
The machine designed and built in Callington takes in, individually packaged 80g portions of cheese from a flow wrapper. The unit queues then transfers, portions, 3 at a time, using an overhead paddle sweep, to create a row. An array of 6 rows is built up, which is then picked and placed into a waiting box. The machine utilises a 2-axis servo driven pick and place arrangement with a vacuum gripper to pick 18 pieces at a time and load them into waiting boxes. “We chose to design our own 2-axis pick and place system rather than use a robot for this application due to the space constraints in the factory and the requirement for only two-axis of motion” Said WMH’s Design Engineer.
Once eight layers have been loaded into the box it is ejected. An empty box then moves into position to await the next layout of product. One operator is required to load and unload boxes and to generally oversee the machine.
Flexibility has been designed into the system which enables larger cheese blocks to pass straight through for downstream packing.
For more information about WMH bespoke solutions please email enquiries@wmh-uk-ltd.com or call 01579 383788