The demand for the automatic unfolding of collapsible crates remains high. Last week, Lan Handling Technologies delivered a crate erector. It has a fully automatic folding crate feeding function. This machine went to a major meat substitute producer in the Netherlands. They have developed an additional module with a robot depalletizer. That was in response to the wide range of folding crates and pallets the food industry uses.
Unstacking, not pushing
Hygenic pallets, or H1 pallets, have center ridges and raised edges. Those make it impossible to push a stack of crates from the pallet directly into the crate erector.
So, Lan Handling Technologies designed a de-palletizer with a special gripper. It automatically removes stacks of foldable crates from the H1 pallets. The same gripper stacks the empty pallets too.
After the crates have been unfolded, the empty ones are sent to the packaging line. There, various top seal products are loaded into the crates using four case packers (robotic cells).
This video shows how the automation system works:
Crate erector at Empack 2021
Empack is a packaging industry trade show. It will be held on September 8 and 9 in the Brabant Halls in Den Bosch. Lan Handling Technologies will showcase their crate erectors there at stand 2.D112.
For more information:
Mark de Boer
Lan Handling Technologies
157 Haarlemmerstraatweg
1165 MK, Halfweg, NL
Tel: +31 (0) 630 271 308
Website: mark.deboer@lanhandling.com