Automated foam handling

Two Fanuc robots are helping foam products producer, Recticel BV, to achieve totally automated production of its new Polygrow products. Polygrow is a polyurethane foam product used by the horticultural sector, in particular vegetable growers, which provides a substrate for the growth of plants.

Foil wrapped plates arrive in the robot area on a buffer conveyor where a Fanuc M-10iA robot picks three up at a time with a vacuum gripper. The three plates are then placed into a collation area where the robot neatly stacks a further three layers of three plates. The collated four layer stack is then transported by conveyor through a tape wrap machine presenting itself as an individual bundle for palletising.

A four axes Fanuc M-410iB manages the palletising of all bundles to a pallet 1.2m2 and up to 2.4m height. This allows for two bundles alongside each other per layer and 10 bundles in height.