Goldfuss engineering uses Yaskawa robots for pioneering new development

Jun 22, 2023

First robots to handle sensitive vials in bulk

Some objects – under certain conditions – simply resist automation. That was hitherto the case with vials packed in plastic hollow boxes. These are small cylindrical medicine bottles, as used millions of times in the pharmaceutical industry. Goldfuss engineering has now solved the problem for once and for all: with a special gripper in combination with a Yaskawa MOTOMAN robot.

Not least due to different cleanroom classes, in pharmaceutical production vials must pass through several handling steps. In particular, the feeding of empty vials into the washing or filling machine, or of filled vials into the packaging machine, is still done manually. The main reasons for this are to be found in the vials themselves: consisting of thin glass, they are extremely fragile. In addition, with sizes of only a few millilitres, they are very small. A further difficulty is that the vials are often transported in-house in sealable plastic hollow boxes, where they are positioned in no particular order. This poses special challenges when it comes to automation.

Automation solution from Goldfuss engineering

Goldfuss engineering GmbH, specialist for the robot-assisted feeding of packaging machines and for user solutions both in packaging technology and lab automation with headquarters in the Swabian town of Balingen, has found a cutting-edge solution to this complex task for vials from a filling capacity of 2 ml (2R): in a compact handling cell the opening of the plastic hollow boxes is handled a robot. It removes the vials and places them on a turntable or bi-flow band, from which they proceed to the washing, filling, inspection or packaging machine. Then the robot deposits the empty box in a container for subsequent disposal. The complete procedure takes around 50 to 60 seconds. This time can be significantly reduced through the use of a second robot.

Powerful entity of gripper and robot

The key component of this solution is a gripper, specially developed by Goldfuss engineering for this application. Unlike a suction pad, for example, that does not permit a process-safe solution for 2R vials, this extremely compact gripper works mechanically and is at the same time product-friendly. This procedure ensures the reliable take-up of the complete box contents and thus ensures that all vials of a batch are accessed and processed.

The gripper harmonizes perfectly with MOTOMAN robots from Yaskawa. The two companies are linked by a long partnership. Goldfuss engineering has been a system partner of the manufacturer for many years. In its slimmest and simplest design the gripper weighs in at 12 kg, plus the vials. Diverse functional options in the gripper, such as cutting open a lid clip, can increase the weight of the gripper. In this case, a manipulator with a lifting capacity of 20 kg or more is recommended.

Yaskawa’s MOTOMAN GP series of heavy-duty industrial robots are ideal for the purpose, although many pharmaceutical users prefer the HRC-capable cobot of the HC series, available with a payload of 20 or even 30 kg.

First installation under construction

A first set-up for feeding vials to a packaging line with a MOTOMAN GP50 FGG (food grade grease) is currently under construction at the German facility of an international pharmaceutical company.

A further installation with a Cobot HC20DTP was already displayed at the Interpack 2023 trade fair and can presently be viewed in the showroom at Goldfuss engineering in Balingen.

Contact for readers’ enquiries:

Yaskawa Europe GmbH

Tel. +49 8166-90-0

Fax +49 8166-90-103

robotics@yaskawa.eu

Florian Kohut, Key Account Manager Packaging Industry

Phone +49 171-565-4683

florian.kohut@yaskawa.eu

www.yaskawa.de

Goldfuss engineering GmbH

Stephan Trunk, Sales Manager Packaging

Tel. +49 152-244 738 32