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Robotics Special Report: Food-Safe Solutions Emerge

New opportunities for the direct and indirect handling of foods emerge as manufacturers begin developing robots for handling unpacked goods.

Quest developed a flexible robotic system to load meat and poultry into an Ossid ReeForm E40 thermoformer.
Quest developed a flexible robotic system to load meat and poultry into an Ossid ReeForm E40 thermoformer.

Until recently robots used in the food and beverage industry were limited to secondary and tertiary packaging tasks, such as palletizing, as they could not met the necessary standards for direct food contact. The use case is now changing as manufacturers are increasingly developing robots suitable for handling unpacked goods and subsequent washdown, creating new opportunities for the direct and indirect handling of foods.

JLS Automation’s Peregrine robotic cartoner offers features that make it suitable for placing naked or packaged products into cartons.JLS Automation’s Peregrine robotic cartoner offers features that make it suitable for placing naked or packaged products into cartons.The new Quest (a product brand of ProMach) Flexible Robotic Loading System is one such system developed specifically for the primary packaging of meat and poultry products. The system was first demonstrated at IFFE (the International Production & Processing Expo) in January 2020, pairing the loading system with an Ossid (also a product brand of ProMach) thermoformer, the ReeForm E40.

The system uses a Fanuc six-axis SCARA robot, the LR Mate 200iD/7LC, which was developed specifically for cleanroom environments, to load, orient, stack, and group products into thermoformed trays. The robot can grip hard-to-handle products, such as poultry and meats, as well as virtually any other product shape. The Quest system is U.S. Department of Agriculture-compliant for direct food contact and features a washdown design with easy access to all components for cleaning.

Another system, the JLS Automation robotic cartoner, branded the Peregrineβ„’, offers features that make it suitable for placing naked or packaged products into cartonsβ€”a part of the packaging process often performed in areas where there is moisture. Says JLS, the Peregrine is designed to get wet, shed water, and eliminate any pooling. β€œAnd, with proprietary, sanitary Vacuum On Boardβ„’ technology, sanitation is as simple as an end-of-arm tool changeoverβ€”no cleaning needed.”

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