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| Simotion for paper packing | | Simotion for compact packing machines | Körber PaperLink has installed the Simotion automation system for its new packing machine for photocopying paper. All motion and logic functions of the machine are performed by one control which shortens the configuration time considerably.
The right packing of products is very important nowadays. It determines whether a product looks good at its point-of-sale and how well it can compete with other products.
The "packer" wants to offer his customers the best possible service with maximum economy. Therefore packing machines are being used increasingly where products used to be packed manually.
It is right here that the new machine with the acronym GREC (Gradi Risme Easy Compact) finds its preferred area of application. In small and medium-sized companies which are changing over from manual to semi-automatic production. Martin Weickenmeier, the Managing Director of Körber PaperLink, is convinced anyhow: "We are happy to be the first company to be able to offer such a flexible packing solution for paper reams of small and medium volumes. The GREC is the ideal machine for companies who want to change over from manual to semi-automatic production."
Körber PaperLink, one of the four main branches of the Körber AG, has had it designed by its subsidiary Innopack in Bologna. It is also being built in Bologna at Wrapmatic which also belongs to Körber. The customer will get the machines as a complete unit or as part of a production line.
Compact and flexible
Innopack received the order to develop a packing machine for paper reams as they are typical for photocopying paper for example. The machine for the targeted circle of customers - mainly small and medium-sized companies - was to be particularly compact.
The designers therefore decided on a basic design in profile construction in which all the necessary motion functions such as packing, gluing and labeling paper could be accommodated in a confined space.
In the packing process the pallet with the reams is transported to the depalleter first and lifted up to working level. Then the complex process of packing begins with numerous motion functions which need to be coordinated. The machine manages six reams per minute. However, the high flexibility of the new development is its most striking feature. Format changes are quick and easy to handle so that the user can easily adapt the machine to the respective requirements. Andrew Towle, CEO from the British company M6, confirms this advantage: "With the new packing machine M6 Papers can react faster to the market and offer its customers an even better service."
Higher quality and time saving with Simotion
Part of the success which Körber PaperLink enjoyed with its new machine at its first appearance at the trade fair for printing technology IPEX in Birmingham in April 2002 was thanks to the use of Simotion - the innovative control and drive technology from Siemens - in addition to the compact mechanical design. The Simotion Motion Control System unites motion control, logic and technology functions in one system.
The controller-based variant of Simotion, C230-2, has been chosen for the GREC packing machine. It has the same structure as the well-known PLC control Simatic S7-300, can be extended with an S7-300 periphery and is universally suitable for drives with digital Profidrive interface or an analog interface.
Innopack has chosen this control system because the processing of motion control and logic jobs in one control saves on communication times. Up till now a PLC and an NC control were normally required which resulted in a much more inaccurate synchronization. With Simotion a much better packing quality of the end product is achieved. Another point in favor is the time saved by the simpler configuration which adds up to about 25 to 30 percent in comparison with conventional solutions.
This has also had a positive effect on the current project. Only three months went by between presenting the Motion Control System to Innopack in mid-October 2001 and the first machine delivery. Innopack and the entire PaperLink group view Simotion as a future-safe control. |  |
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