Page 30 - Packaging News Mar-Apr 2020

MEMBER NEWS
ONROBOT EXTENDS ITS GRIP
Danish robot equipment producer OnRobot has added a new end-of-arm tool to its product line-up, the 3FG15 three-finger gripper with a 150mm stroke.
The new gripper can handle heavy-payload machine-tending applications that require high precision and flexible handling.
Enrico Krog Iversen, OnRobot CEO, said the 3FG15 was developed as a response to existing pneumatic three-finger grippers that are bulkier and less flexible.
“We have long defined the market for electric parallel grippers with the RG2 and RG6 series, and we look forward to addressing new market segments and applications with a new three-finger gripper that allows users to deploy applications faster even with highly accurate, fixed positioning,” he said.
The 3FG15 gripper has a maximum stroke of 150mm that can handle multiple processes.
4 Pines Brewing Company will soon be putting its famous beer into bottles and cans on a new filling line, to be supplied by Foodmach, at its Brookvale facility.
Chris Willcock, chief brewer at 4 Pines Brewery, said cans are an increasingly relevant section of the craft beer market. “They’re a vessel very well-suited to a variety of drinking occasions,” he said. “The challenge at Brookvale has been our restricted space, which makes it impossible to build a second packaging line exclusively for standard and sleek can filling. Off-site filling was an option, but it’s expensive and elevates our risk of problems with product quality.”
The three-finger design with a 15 kg payload provides a strong, stable grip for both form fit (internal) or friction fit (external) gripping.
OnRobot said the gripper’s design, specifically developed for machine-tending tasks, automatically centres workpieces, resulting in a strong, stable grip and precise placement in machine chucks.
The gripper can handle packaging and palletising applications. It is compatible with any major collaborative or light industrial robot arm through OnRobot’s new One System Solution, the platform that provides a unified mechanical and electrical interface between the robot arms and any OnRobot end-of-arm tooling.
OnRobot is represented in Australia through its distributor partners: APPMA members Australis Engineering, Diverseco and Scott Automation and Robotics, as well as Mobile Electrics, Collaborative Robots Australia and Auto Controls Systems.
The 4 Pines Brewery is due to start up its GEA Vipoll All in One filler in September. The machine is a combined rinser/filler/capper/seamer in a single monoblock. It can accommodate carbonated and still beverages – either hot or cold – and it can fill glass, PET, and cans in several formats. The filler can work at a pace of up to 30,000 containers per hour. It also has the potential to reduce the energy used in bottling and canning beer and reduce water use.
Foodmach designed a medium-speed packaging line around the filler. This packaging line includes a new bottle/can depalletiser; traceability and inspection systems; conveying; and a line control system to link all existing equipment.
APPOINTMENT: NEW MD FOR OMRON OCEANIA
Global industrial automation company Omron has appointed Henry Zhou as managing director for its operations in the Oceania Region.
Zhou, who is currently general manager of Omron Oceania (Australia and New Zealand), will take up the new position from 1 April this year.
He succeeds current Omron Oceania MD Greg Field, who is retiring after 17 years in the role, and 28 years with the company.
Zhou joined Omron in 1998 in Singapore before he moved to Sydney and has held several leadership roles with the company.
Zhou said he is “honoured to lead Omron Oceania into the next decade through its next phase of growth”.
“Today, we are on the doorstep of the 4th Industrial Revolution. It will change the world fundamentally,” he said. “This exciting new era presents outstanding opportunities for a broad range of industry sectors.”
CRAFT BREWER OPTS FOR ALL-IN-ONE FILLER
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