LinMot USA exhibited its hygienic motor solutions and robotic linear motion systems at the inaugural Pack Expo Southeast in Atlanta earlier this year.
Known for its linear motion capabilities in industrial settings, the company demonstrated its pick-and-place robotic gripper and robotic linear motion solutions for a variety of applications in food, beverage, and pharmaceuticals.
Washdown capabilities for the food industry
LinMot’s GM01 is an electric gripper used for clamping and transporting products in harsh conditions that require frequent cleaning and washdowns, like the food and beverage industry. It’s capable of handling dry, moist, solid, or soft products without leaving noticeable marks.
“If you have anything like raw food, or anything that needs to be FDA-approved, or you need to have high-pressure washdown, this would be perfect in that industry because it’s 316L stainless steel,” said Zarren Zafiro, sales engineer for LinMot USA, during a demonstration with Packaging OEM. “It’s easy for caustic washdown in case you need to clean it after using it with raw food.”
Uneven products can be gripped securely due to the detection of gripping force and positioning. It also features a compact design and an IP69K gripper, which provides control over positioning and force.
“You can pick and place whatever kind of motion you want to do for the gripper because it’s two servo motors acting against each other,” said Zafiro. “So, if you need to go wider or shorter, we can do that with our GM01 modules.”
A variety of monitoring options are included, such as pressure, distance, temperature, and capacity utilization. The GM01 offers consistent opening and closing times for large capacities and can easily be integrated into existing production lines by OEMs.
Reliable pick-and-place for lightweight objects
LinMot’s GM50 is a high-speed electric gripper designed to handle light objects. Featuring less than 20 milliseconds (ms) opening and closing time, it’s freely programmable with motion profiles, and the gripper forces are controlled by servo drives to enable precise control over speed, positioning, and force.
“This demo shows off how fast our pick-and-place modules can move with our new technology, our GM50 grippers,” said Zafiro. “Our technology is electricity, no air, and we like to push the electricity over the air.”
Individual finger positioning and adjustable force can be used to customize gripping.
“We have three axes here that pick-and-place at any rate of speed and place multiple different sizes of products,” said Zafiro. “We’re fully programmable. If you have different profiles, you can have different sizes of products to pick up.”
Offering reduced-force gripping through its linear motor, it’s a sustainable option as it provides low energy consumption.
Safety features can maintain the MagSpring gripping force, which ensures a constant force across the entire working range. In the event of a power failure, the gripper can be opened by hand.
Maximizing efficiency with linear rotary motors
LinMot’s PR02 linear rotary motor features a unique design where the mechanical elements and additional components are integrated into sleek, easy-to-clean housing.
“Our linear rotary has a linear and a rotary axis in it. When attached to our e-guide, that’s a guided linear motor on the back, we can have e-guides up to two meters,” said Zafiro. “Our technology is made of magnets. There are windings around the slider. When you push current through that, it makes it move back and forth to an exact position.”
In addition to the sleek design, it delivers all necessary data for networked production in Industry 4.0, which is the rise of connected, data-driven manufacturing and is reshaping how packaging lines operate.
The PR02 linear rotary motor also offers the following optional upgrades:
· Hollow shaft: Provides a feed-through air option throughout the entire module for operating pneumatic grippers and vacuum elements. A pneumatic hose around the module shaft isn’t needed, and an endless rotation is possible.
· Pusher: Allows a second axis for telescopic movement. Gripping elements may be deployed, or mechanical grippers may be operated using this option.
· MagSpring: Ensures that the moving mass of motors is compensated to prevent the axis from failing in the event of a power loss. It’s available in different sizes and its direction may be pulling or pushing.
· Force and torque sensor: Enables precise, reproducible, recordable capping and assembling processes needed for the pharmaceutical and medical industries. Every assembled unit can be tracked due to real-time process monitoring. It also offers closed-loop force and torque control and process evaluation.
· Stainless steel front: Constructed with a hygienic design, it’s resistant to cleaning supplies, features interchangeable ball bearings, and is designed to work with food products and in the chemical industry.
Additional optional features include real-time motor information, sensors, and detailed information on positioning, press and impact force, and closing angle and torque.
Explore further
LinMot USA offers a variety of industrial automation solutions, including the products listed above. Learn more here.
To catch up on the innovations that were displayed at Pack Expo Southeast, view our photo gallery.
