Cartoning machine: Maintenance and lubrication-free bearings for maximum performance

Profile

• What was needed: drylin W profile guides, drylin W pillow blocks, iglidur G plain bearings
• Requirements: Components were needed that would enable lubrication-free operation, with simple maintenance, minimal noise levels and low costs.
• Industry: Packaging industry
• Success for the customer: The guides and rotary bearings are lightweight, low-friction, silent and cost-effective.

Problem

The machine manufacturer Neubauplan Automation Machines Pvt. Ltd. has developed and patented a machine that erects corrugated cardboard shipping boxes and then fills them with consumer goods such as soap, biscuits or toothpaste at a speed of up to 500 products per minute. The design required special components at four stations:

1. Conveyor bridge (see video 1 below):
A very small roller conveyor (65mm wide and 120mm long) was to be designed to act as a bridging/emptying device between this machine's conveyor system and the end customer's machine. This "bridge" should also be able to tilt upwards in the event of a machine failure.
In all areas, components were sought that enable lubrication-free operation with simple maintenance, minimal noise levels and low costs.

2. Pusher (video 2):
From an incoming product stream, a pusher was expected to push a fixed number of products sideways onto a conveyor belt 100 times per minute.

3. Carton feed (video 3):
The cartons were supposed to be transported quickly and reliably along a conveyor system.

4. Lifting the cartons (video 4):
A guide way needed to be found to design a handling system for lifting the cartons.

Solution

In all areas, components were sought that enable lubrication-free operation with simple maintenance, minimal noise levels and low costs. Our linear plain bearings and rotary plain bearings are used for various tasks at the four stations:

1. Conveyor bridge:
The miniature conveyor/discharge bridge with a roller surface of 65mm x 120mm was designed with a series of iglidur G plain bearings (GSM-0810-22), which run freely over fixed smooth stainless steel rods with a diameter of 8mm. This made the roller conveyor virtually friction-free, very simple, maintenance-free and corrosion-free, and it could be assembled in the tightest of spaces.

2. Pusher:
The pusher is constructed using a drylin W profile guide in combination with a pair of the corresponding drylin W pillow blocks and a pair of adjustable bearing blocks. When moving forwards, this arrangement lowers the push rod so that it pushes a row of products sideways. During the return stroke, this arrangement lifts the rod above the products so that the products can enter the pushing area even if the push rod still has to be retracted. This arrangement requires only one low-friction cylinder to perform both movements - horizontal and vertical. This enables a very fast and reliable mechanism.

3. Carton feed:
A combination of drylin W profile guide, drylin W pillow block and an adjustable bearing variant was used in a similar way for the carton indexer, which ensures the feed in the system, in order to achieve a reliable operation.

4. Lifting of the cartons:
The handling system for lifting the cardboard boxes was implemented using a vertical guide system with two drylin W rails and only four drylin W pillow blocks, which are arranged in such a way that they fully accommodate the protruding load. This arrangement is lightweight, practically frictionless, silent and cost-effective.

Video 1: A small roller conveyor bridge acts as a bridging/emptying device between the conveyor system of the packaging machine and the end customer's machine.

Video 2: From an incoming product flow, this pusher pushes a fixed number of products sideways onto a conveyor belt 100 times per minute.

Video 3: The cartons are conveyed quickly and reliably along this conveyor system.

Video 4: This lifting station contains a vertical guide way and facilitates carton handling.