BFR Systems is a French Group which has been active for 65 years, offering turnkey solutions for the production, packing and monitoring of products for everyday consumption. These solutions range from simple machines to complete lines, and the Group is well regarded for its integration competences in this regard.
Originally specializing in agri-food, today BFR Systems focus on the sale of cosmetics, hygiene products and household products. Its brand new robotic uprighting system for bottles is aimed at all these markets. It allows you to pick up tipped bottles in bulk and then deposits them on a conveyor one by one in order to feed a filling machine. It illustrates the Group guiding principle: developing optimized standard solutions which can easily be adapted to suit the particular needs of each customer. Among these optimizations is the management of a robot via the machine’s PLC, which brings numerous benefits.
Take a closer look at this innovation implemented with Bosch Rexroth solutions.
Traditionally, uprighting systems rely on mechanical solutions for picking up, guiding and positioning plastic vials and bottles. Here a delta robot retrieves the packages in the loading area one by one and moves them to the conveyor belt. This choice was carefully considered:
"We have chosen to create a robotic uprighting system because this agile solution provides two advantages in comparison with 100% mechanical solutions: versatility and ease of use.
This machine is designed to adapt to different types and shapes of bottles or vials, without the need for format parts," explains Thierry Fouré, Business Development Leader at BFR Systems
The other original feature of this machine is that all of the movement controls are performed by a single control system, as Nathanael Briand, Bosch Rexroth Applications Engineer, explains: "BFR Systems has chosen to integrate the automation and the Bosch Rexroth motion control on delta robot mechanics which were supplied blank. Here, we provided the motors, the servo drives and the control system for the complete implementation of the application."
This choice was motivated by a need for efficiency, as the machines and complete lines developed by BFR Systems often integrate numerous robots. Basically, this type of architecture allows you to shorten the development time, and it works with any type of kinematic robot.
"Managing the automation and the robotic functions in one unique control system simplifies the architecture of the machine. In this way, we save development and commissioning time," explains Olivier Lecorre, Head of Automation Services at BFR Systems.
"The Bosch Rexroth control system is what allowed us to obtain the best trajectories. It’s a key element of this machine: we need optimized and fluid movements, and they need to be as smooth as possible. This is what will prevent bottle or vial losses," he adds.
BFR Systems was looking for an automation and motion control solution capable of supporting the development of their machines in the years to come. This was achieved with the ctrlX AUTOMATION portfolio of control system, which stand out for the following reasons:
"Using our platform ctrlX AUTOMATION, the machine manufacturers can easily record the user’s production data, perform diagnostics and remote maintenance, or even connect the machines to a MES tool," explains Nathanael Briand.
"It’s important for us to be able to connect our machines, create custom control panels, and offer remote maintenance without additional materials. The ctrlX AUTOMATION environment works in the sense that we want to develop: complete, modular and dynamic lines which are adapted to suit the needs of our clients. This is also exactly why we chose Bosch Rexroth," concludes Olivier Lecorre.
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