The Bronway Automation Compact Tote Palletiser (CTP) is a tote handling, inspection, filling & palletising system designed to automate the handling and stacking of totes.

The CTP removes the requirement for operators to manually place totes onto filling stations, wait for them to fill before having to lift the full, heavy tote onto a nearby pallet.

A 3 axis pick & place servo system (including our proprietary telescopic Z axis) does all the work by picking, orientating, placing, filling and palletising the heavy totes, all within a securely guarded zone. Now, operators simply wheel a stack of empty totes on a custom trolley into the machine, place an empty pallet in position, and the CTP takes care of the rest. This results in a 90% reduction in operator workload and vastly reduces the risks associated with manually lifting and carrying heavy items.

Description of Operation

The machine comprises of a 3 axis pick and place unit mounted within a solid welded frame construction. The machine is fully safety interlocked with a large 10” Allen Bradley touchscreen display.

The operator places an empty pallet by means of pallet truck and stack of empty totes on a custom trolley (20 max. in a stack) into the CTP. Both the pallet truck and trolley can be left in the CTP during operation.

When ready the pick and place unit picks a pallet from the stack and orientates the lids before placing it into a vision inspection position. The tote is then vision inspected to ensure there is no product contamination (product from a previous batch). If deemed a pass, the tote is shuttled beneath a hopper which has been accumulating product from a production line in parallel with the loading of product by the operator.

The contents of the product buffer hopper are emptied into the tote in such a manner that the product is evenly distributed within the tote. Further product from the production line continues to fill the tote until deemed full.

The tote is shuttled from beneath the product hopper and the lids are closed. The pick and place unit picks the tote and places it onto the awaiting pallet in the desired orientation.

The machine provides visual and audible signals to the operator when either the tote stack is at a low level or when the pallet is almost full. The CTP also allows for a seamless changeover of the tote stack and pallet in parallel to inspection and tote fill functions without production downtime.

CTP Features

• Ultra compact Footprint (2.210m x 1.950m).
• 3 Axis Servo-controlled Pick & Place for positional flexibility.
• Proprietary telescopic Z axis ensures a proportionally low overall operation height requirement.
• Full sensor detection on tote-stack level.
• Full sensor detection of tote presence on the pallet.
• 10” touchscreen HMI with password protected multi-user access.
• Vision inspection of empty totes prior to fill to prevent product contamination.
• Integrated vacuum pump.
• Vacuum detection on all vacuum valves.
• QC Shot analysis station.
• Power Requirements: Three-phase 400VAC.
• Air Requirements: 6 Bar.
• CE certified and CE marked.

CTP Options

• Product buffer mechanisms (buffer hopper, various product infeed system & conveyors such as orientation conveyors etc.).

CTP Benefits

• Automated lifting and palletising of heavy totes addresses employee health and safety issues relating to lifting of heavy totes.
• Compact footprint.
• Automatic handling results in a significant reduction of operator utilisation, allowing other tasks to be completed instead.
• 100% vision inspection of totes for product contamination.

If you require additional information or a variation on any of our products, please or contact us.