Vials and pens

13 packaging formats for pens and vials
3D camera for exact position recognition
Support in packaging material development
Gentle product handling
High line efficiency

Requirements

Expanding capacity, increasing efficiency

Packing vials and pens efficiently, flexibly and carefully:

A Schubert packaging line at a biotechnology company packs pens and vials efficiently, flexibly and extremely gently.

To increase capacity and improve efficiency, the managers in charge of a large biotechnology company were looking for a new installation for a site in the Netherlands that could pack vials and pens in different configurations. High flexibility and precise handling were important requirements. The Schubert-Pharma line successfully masters this special assignment thanks to a new 3D camera and the Transmodul transport robot.

Solution

13 packaging formats for vials and pens

Gentle product handling is a top priority for medicinal products. Avoiding glass-to-glass contact is especially important. The Schubert line therefore packs vials and pens into carton dividers or trays. A particular plus point is the 3D camera developed by Schubert, which identifies the exact position of each pen. This ensures that each product, even if its position has changed consequent to the removal of another pen, is accurately selected during the next product pick-up. Schubert’s line not only handles the medicinal products extremely carefully, it also offers a high degree of flexibility: vials and pens can be packed in a total of 13 formats.

The speedy commissioning of such a demanding assignment on-site impressed the customer.

Karin Kleinbach

Sales Account Manager at Schubert-Pharma

Technical Details

Precise, gentle product handling thanks to a 3D camera

On the conveyor belt, the vials are carried into the line. A camera identifies their positions while checking whether the end caps are present. An F4 robot then picks a vial at a time from the belt and groups the vials on a Transmodul. In the case of the pen format, the products are fed to the F4 robots on a separate conveyor belt in transport cases containing 120 products.

Here, a specially developed Schubert 3D camera is used. Transport cases containing 120 pens are positioned in the working area of the removal robot. An F4 robot removes the pens individually and groups them on the Transmodul. To ensure every product is removed from the case a 3D camera scans its contents and determines the exact position and layer height of each pen.

Carton blanks are taken from a magazine and erected. They are then filled with trays or carton dividers. Robots shape the dividers and place them into the previously erected cartons. Sensors on the robot tool ensure that each carton is filled with a divider or tray. In the next step, the pre-grouped products are placed into the cartons and secured in place.

Once the package information leaflet has been added, the final step is to close the cartons.

Gentle product packaging into carton dividers or trays
Exact placement of the pens and vials in the folding cartons
The Transmodul ensures seamless transport

Accurate pick-up in the box: the newly developed 3D camera makes it possible. It recognises the precise position of the pen.

Accurate pick-up in the box: the newly developed 3D camera makes it possible. It recognises the precise position of the pen. The F4 pick & place robot picks one vial at a time from the belt and places it horizontally on the Transmodul.