Palletizing system for glass cartridges

				PIA Fact Check
			
			Safe handling of highly sensitive vitreous bodies
Flexible handling of 20 different variants
Low space requirement
Connection to existing production system

		

Innovative feeding system for highly sensitive glass bodies

How precise handling ensures product quality

Automated processing has a high priority in the pharmaceutical industry: the focus is on efficient production processes, high quality and precise handling. PIA Automation has now implemented an innovative solution for the fully automated handling of sensitive glass cartridges. Such cartridges - often filled with frozen active ingredients - are used in outpatient emergency medicine, for example.

The infeed system from PIA consists of a palletizer, interchangeable grippers adapted to the cartridges and a screw conveyor unit. The trays with the cartridges are prepared manually by the customer's employees. A gripper then removes the glass bodies from the trays and transfers them to the screw conveyor unit. This transports the sensitive workpieces safely and precisely to a washing system.

Speed, precision and efficiency in a sterile environment

PIA designed the palletizer with lifting tables for the customer's application. The pallets are manually inserted into a module together with the trays and components. The 3D-printed robot grippers are tailor-made: The system can handle more than 20 glass bodies per gripping process. The robot’s place position is synchronized to the continuous screw feed of the washing system. The vacuum suction cups of the gripping system are made of FDA-certified material. They grip the glass carpules securely, sensitively and without damaging them, which is a non-trivial task on a variety of glass barrel sizes. Repeatable and accurate positioning of each vacuum cup on the glass barrel is critical, otherwise even a small failure rate per-cup will result in an unacceptable level of fault recovery time on the machine.

Flexibility through variant changes

In total, the PIA system can process up to ten different glass body variants and sizes. The gripper is converted to a new variant fully automatically (an option typically too expensive to justify, but implemented efficiently in this case): the robot moves to a station - christened the "fir tree" by the PIA engineers due to the hanging arrangement of dense, needle-like grippers - and automatically switches to the appropriate gripper depending on the type of cartridges. The cell is therefore not only innovative, but also extremely flexible for the end user.

Partnership for joint success

PIA coordinated all interfaces precisely with the washing system manufacturer to ensure a smooth connection of the screw conveyor to the washing system. In general, the successful commissioning of the medical system shows how innovative technologies and close cooperation between the project partners can result in efficient solutions. The main challenges in this project were the tight time frame for the installation and the high rate and product mix required in a very small space - both of which the project partners overcame. The customer's satisfaction with the successful implementation was evident immediately after the project was completed: the next order has already been placed.

"The successful implementation of the infeed system for glass carpules was a milestone for our team. The individual solution without a standard palletizer, the close cooperation with the washing system manufacturer and the flexible 3D-printed robot grippers have shown how creative and flexible we are at PIA. True to our motto: creating efficiency."