Space-saving ceiling-mounted robot
s800 series Cobra robot. The inverted robot offers high-speed
packaging and assembly with a wider reach, while leaving a much
clearer working area.
The new robot offers several advantages over its predecessor, which is floor-mounted and traditionally sits beside the conveyor belt or packing line. While the Cobra s800 Inverted Robot has a reach of 800mm, the same as the previous floor-mounted model, being mounted on the ceiling above the conveyor effectively doubles this reach. This extended reach means that the ceiling-mounted robot can handle much wider conveyor belts, or work across two separate lines. In addition to this, being mounted upside-down on the ceiling leaves floor space free alongside the packaging or assembly line, making for a cleaner, more spacious working area and particularly useful if space is limited. One of the major advantages of robot, says Ian McAllister of Adept, is that it is supplied with the company's SmartController CX. "We can control two robots with the one controller," McAllister told In-PharmaTechnologist.com. "And while many other manufacturers supply controllers that are the size of a refrigerator, ours is only the size of a shoebox which again saves on floor space." The machinery can also be supplied with a vision system of up to four cameras, which identify the position of products on the conveyor belt and link back to the robot so it can accurately pick up and orientate the product for assembly or packaging. The inverted robot is comparable in price to other similar products offered by the company, and has already been taken up by several customers. "In the pharmaceutical industry, the machines can be used to carry out processes such as assembly of drug delivery products, inhalers or syringes for example, as well as packaging," said McAllister. The robot works across four axes and can handle a payload of up to 5.5kg (12.1lbs) according to the manufacturer, and has a vertical stroke of 210mm. There is an IP65 option (to protect computer equipment) for environments that require frequent cleaning of automation machinery to prevent product contamination during production. Adept manufactures and markets a range of robotic solutions along with motion control and machine vision technology, supplying markets across the pharmaceutical, medical, food and beverage and electronics industries.
