Robots bag big business at Walkers

Walkers Snack Foods has installed three new Schubert automated robotic packaging systems for packing crisps at its factories in the Midlands and the North East.

Two of the new machines are in operation at Peterlee; the third is at Coventry.

Developed by Schubert's specialist packaging integration subsidiary, IPS, the robotic packaging systems are being used to place up to three different varieties of crisp packs into a series of horizontal flow wrappers.

Up to 480 bags a minute are handled by each Schubert TLM-F44 line which receives products from storage hoppers and a pair of vibratory bowl feeders.

The machines are equipped with optical detection devices which verify the quality of the bags and supply the information to guide the system's robots.

Any unidentified or incorrectly positioned bags are returned to the storage hoppers.

Robots fitted with vacuum suckers pick and place either six or 12 packs into the in-feed chain carriers where they are fed into the form, fill and seal machines.

Schubert's patented counterflow principle, in which the two chains run against the flow of the product conveyor, ensures only fully-loaded chain divisions. The lines are also designed to handle a range of pack sizes with fast changeovers.

Contact: Schubert UK; Tel: 01676 525825