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

Profile

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

The machine manufacturer Neubauplan Automation Machines Pvt. Ltd. has developed and patented a machine that sets up corrugated cardboard shipping boxes and 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 breakdown.
In all areas, components were sought that would enable lubrication-free operation with easy maintenance, minimal noise levels and low costs.

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

3. Carton feed (Video 3):
Cartons should be conveyed along a conveyor system quickly and reliably.

4. Carton lifting (Video 4):
A guideway was to be found to design a handling system for lifting the cartons.

In all areas, components were sought that would allow for lubrication-free operation with simple maintenance, minimal noise levels and low costs. Our linear 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 reduced the roller conveyor's friction virtually to zero while making it very simple and free from both maintenance and corrosion. It could furthermore be mounted 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 housing pillow blocks and a pair of adjustable pillow blocks. When moving forwards, this arrangement lowers the push rod so that it pushes a range of products sideways. During the return stroke, this arrangement lifts the rod above the products so that they 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 horizontal and vertical movements. This allows for a very fast and reliable mechanism.

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

4. Carton lifting:
The handling system for lifting the cardboard boxed was realised with 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 light, with virtually no friction, quiet and cost-effective.