Cobelplast produces 25 000 tonnes of rigid foil on rolls annually. In terms of foil composition and roll size, the company works entirely according to customer requirements. This means it has to produce a wide range of different types and weights of rolls, which have to be shipped on different pallet types.

Cobelplast requested Ceratec to engineer and build a multifunctional, automatic, 43 metre packaging line.

The first section of the packing machine is the most innovative and had to be completely customised by Ceratec in order to fulfil its task. The machine weighs, straps, individually packs and labels the rolls and places one or more rolls on a pallet.

• On the left side of the installation, rolls are placed on a table by an operator using a pallet truck.
• Once the operator has left the zone with the pallet truck, the roller is picked up by the ‘feed gripper' and briefly placed on the ‘scales'.
• After weighing, the roll is placed on the ‘strapping shuttle'. The ‘strapping shuttle' moves perpendicular to the direction of movement of the gripper in the ‘roll strapping’ machine.
• After the rolls are strapped, the ‘strapping shuttle’ moves back towards the ‘input gripper’.
• The ‘input gripper’ moves the roll to the ‘roll winding shuttle'
• After a robot applies the caps, silica gel bag and/or a label, this shuttle also moves the roller perpendicular to the movement of the ‘supply/output gripper' in the 'roll winder'.
• After winding foil on the roll, the ‘roll winding shuttle’ moves back towards the ‘discharge gripper'.

The second part of the machine fixes the rollers on the pallet by wrapping the roll and the pallet with shrink film, after which the pallet is given a transport label, if necessary with a second customer-specific label. This is a more traditional packaging line.

• The ‘discharge gripper' places the rollers on the ‘rotation unit' for palletising. Depending on the palletisation method required by the customer, the pallet is placed in a horizontal or vertical position behind the ‘rotation unit’. There are 3 possible placement positions.
• The main operator puts the right pallet in the right position, according to the instructions he or she receives from the central control panel.
• Every time a pallet is full, the roller conveyor moves it towards the 'roller conveyor with centring', after which the rolls on the pallet are strapped in the strapping machine.
• During the next stop, the pallet is wrapped in the ‘pallet wrapper'.
• Before entering the warehouse, a 2nd robot applies a label to the finished pallet.