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[May 2005]
Robotic Setting Adopted by Zeller Brick
The continuously increasing demands within the building industry for more precise products with improved heat insulation has persuaded German brick manufacturer Zeller (Alzenau, Germany) to install an additional setting plant with an integrated grinding machine.
Due to the fact that careful handling of the product and precise setting are prerequisites for production of high quality products, Zeller decided in favour of robotic setting technology, which has been proven in the brick industry. A precondition for the installation of the new plant was to maintain the existing setting plant; therefore the new plant had to be installed in a very small space. Furthermore, the free passage of loaded tunnel kiln cars underneath the new plant had to be taken into consideration.
After detailed project studies with different arrangement possibilities, Zeller chose Keller HCW GmbH (Ibbenbueren-Laggenbeck, Germany) to provide the new setting plant. After a short erection and commissioning time, this plant has been successfully brought on-line.
At the same time, the system for taking dry products from pallets has been replaced by a robotic solution. In doing so, it is now possible to feed, depending on the product and the requirements, the feed conveyor of the existing setting machine or the new grinding machine with the robot setting system. The difference in height between the existing feed conveyor and the new machine is 1.3m. The feed conveyors can be alternately loaded by means of the robot solution without loss of output and without alteration.
Depending on the dimension of the bricks, the kiln car setting is able to load rectangular or square packs.
Following the grinding machine, the brick groups are collected and by means of a special accelerating chain they are separated from the following column and are put into the exact position for pushing off. The brick rows are pushed off, adjusted and pack layers are formed on the collecting table according to the kiln car setting pattern. The group setting layers are fed to the setting robot via a take-off belt.
The robot is equipped with a special gripper which stacks the setting layers in packs on the kiln cars, ready for firing.
The kiln car deck is automatically measured by means of the special gripper and then analysed and controlled in case the kiln car decks are of different heights. This guarantees a careful and precise transfer of all setting layers. A SIMATIC S7 control system has been provided for the control of the plant.
The actual state of the plant can be displayed during operation and by means of the electric control systems all functions can be carried out manually.
www.keller-hcw.de
ENDS