Palletizer types and palletizing grippers
Layer palletizers for fast single-product lines, gantry palletizers for long spans and several lines, grippers chosen for bags, cases or drums; grippers are also made to order on their own.
Layer palletizers for fast single-product lines, gantry palletizers for long spans and several lines, grippers chosen for bags, cases or drums; grippers are also made to order on their own.
Palletizing is not only robots. A layer palletizer forms a complete layer and pushes it onto the pallet, fast and suited to single-product beverage, dairy and building-material lines, in high-level and low-level infeed versions. A gantry palletizer is a Cartesian machine with a long span that can serve several lines. A robot cell is the most flexible. Whatever the machine, the gripper does the handling: finger (fork) grippers for woven and paper sacks, vacuum grippers for cases, clamp or fork-plate grippers for heavy cases and drums, layer grippers for whole layers. Grippers ship with the machine or are made to order for an existing robot.
Typical uses
- Bagged cement, flour, fertiliser
- High-speed beverage, dairy and water lines
- Cases and film packs in building materials and household products
- New grippers for existing robot cells
How to choose
- Speed and product range: layer palletizers for fast single-product layers; gantries for long spans and shared lines
- Building height and space: high-level and gantry machines need headroom; compare low-level layer or articulated robots where space is tight
- Gripper by pack: finger grippers for sacks, vacuum for flat cases, clamps or fork plates for heavy cases and drums, layer grippers for layers
- Whole machine or gripper only: for grippers check the robot flange, payload margin and air supply
When it is not the right choice
- Moderate speed, many products, frequent changes or a low building: not layer or large gantry machines; a robot cell
- Cases with holes, soft board or tape that lifts: not vacuum alone; clamp or under-support grippers
Key figures
| Layer palletizer | Published ratings about 280–300 layers/h low-level, up to about 510 high-level; confirm against case size and pattern |
|---|---|
| Gantry palletizer | Built to span, payload and number of lines; reference project: about 150–200 kg payload, axes about 60–90 m/min |
| Four-axis palletizing robot | Payload commonly about 110–450 kg |
| Sack gripper | Finger type supporting from below; sack weight per gripper specification |
| Gripper types | Finger (fork), vacuum, clamp/fork-plate, layer |
| Periphery | Pallet dispenser, slip-sheet placer, pallet conveyors |
Figures are typical configuration ranges; exact specifications are set per project.
Options
- Pallet dispenser and slip-sheet placer
- Gripper quick-change
- Pattern software
- Linked to stretch wrapping and pallet labeling
Scope of supply
- Machine, drives and control cabinet, assembled and dry-run tested before shipping
- The equipment's own control and fleet software; interfaces to your existing WMS / ERP as the project requires
- Drawings: general arrangement, foundation and anchor plan, electrical schematics
- Conformity documents for the equipment and the whole line, the split of responsibilities and the acceptance criteria are set out in the contract according to the project scope
- Spare-parts list and wear-part recommendation; a first batch can ship with the equipment
- Factory acceptance (FAT): attend in person or follow by live video
- Installation, commissioning and operator training can be included in the offer
What we need for an offer
- Product type (cases, woven or paper sacks, drums, film packs), size and weight
- Pallet size and pattern (items per layer, layers, height); automatic pallets and slip sheets or not
- Cases, sacks or layers per hour, and how many lines
- Installation area size and infeed and outfeed heights
- For grippers only: robot model, rated payload, flange drawing and air supply