Product category:
Industrial Drives/Controls
News Release from: Lenze | Subject: Lenze 8200 vector frequency inverters
Edited by the Engineeringtalk Editorial
Team on 08 December 2005
Inverter drives provide delicate control
Lenze inverter drives are an essential element in the performance of Gerhard-Schubert packaing machines, giving speed, accuracy, reliability and an easy communication interface.
Because chocolate pralines are so fragile they require very careful packing - a challenging task for the machine designer Gerhard-Schubert of Crailsheim, situated in the heart of Germany's "packaging valley", manufactures packaging machines that are fast, safe and flexible - perfect for handling assorted chocolates
The conveyor belts that carry the product along to the packing station are driven by Lenze frequency inverters.
The TLM range are top-loading machines produced in volume.
They are ideal for packaging individual products of any kind.
The controls are found in the top of the machine allowing best possible access to all the moving parts.
The packing is done below.
A top-loading machine erects a carton from flat blanks, takes the product from the conveyor belt, places it into its packaging and seals it.
The process is customised to each product and industry.
Should the requirements change, a TLM packaging machine demonstrates unmatched flexibility: the equipment can soon be retooled if, say, instead of chocolates, Easter eggs or biscuits need to be boxed.
Schubert packaging lines are composed of ruggedly constructed, individual cells.
Movable robot arms are suspended in the top section.
The local Crailsheim population likes to joke about the "robot heaven".
Every module operates on its own, self-contained controls designed in-house and based on microcomputers which communicate with each other by means of optical fibres.
All the motors installed in the equipment are speed-controlled.
The drive technology, including Lenze 8200 vector frequency inverters to drive the conveyors, is networked via Profibus and CAN interfaces.
When designing the top-loading machine, Schubert turned to Mother Nature for inspiration.
The human hand was the role model.
Robot cells had tools attached to their "wrists" to grip items as varied as frozen food products, electronic components and cosmetics.
The robots' arms are controlled by a vision system and can, therefore, distinguish between 12 different chocolates.
However, most impressive is the delicacy with which the chocolates are handled so as not to cause any damage.
The praline itself was invented by accident.
In 1671, when Count Caesar Choiseul du Plessis-Praslin was dispatched by the "Sun-King" Louis XIV to the German parliament in Regensburg, there was a mishap in the kitchen, with the almonds that were meant for "afters" being dropped on the floor and sugar being spilt over them.
The resourceful chef decided to serve sugar-coated almonds and the Count was so delighted he gave his name to this new-style sweet, calling it "Praslin".
Over the centuries this confectionery underwent many changes including the modification of its name.
Eventually, in 1857, some Belgian confectioners manufactured the first chocolate pralines from cocoa powder, cocoa butter, sugar and milk.
Schubert has grown steadily since its foundation in 1966.
Now with over 500 employees at its main site in Germany and two major subsidiaries overseas in Texas USA and Birmingham in the UK, the company's turnover has more than doubled in the last 6 years, and the TLM packaging machine, where the entire control system and robot unit were moved up to the top end of the machine for the first time, went into production in 2002.
Its success is due to its versatility, space economy, and performance.
The Lenze inverter drives are an essential element in the machine performance giving speed accuracy, reliability and an easy communication interface. Request a free brochure from Lenze ...
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