published on 23/07/08
A robot and a vacuum pump have been ‘teamed up’ to handle catering packs of a well – known British cuppa. The catering packs consist of large quantities of teabags within a polythene bag.
The vacuum pump, supplied by Busch UK, and the Fanuc robot are performing their double act at Unliever’s Manchester Packing plant. The Busch pump has been the key to the installation of the Fanuc robot which is picking up catering packs of tea bags in quantities of 300-1,610 at speeds of up to 15 bags a minute and large corporate cases at the rate of three bags a minute.
Fanuc Robotics chose the Busch pump with a side-channel blower to provide maximum vacuum in the tea packing area of the plant. Fanuc engineer Roger Bastow, said: “we need a blower on this application because of the irregularity of the polythene bag. We try to use a conventional vacuum that has to generate a seal. The blower is like a big vacuum cleaner.
“we looked at the three suction generator suppliers and chose Busch because it was within the price range and we knew it would do the job”
Roger Ray, Bradman Lake project manager who installed the application said,” the really clever bit is the ability of the system to pick up differing sizes of teabag catering packs. The robot relies on the vacuum pump for its blowing capability to provide vacuum.”
Unilever placed the order for the whole system with Bradman Lake who then placed an order with Fanuc for the complete robot system – with a six-axis M710 general purpose robot with a payload of 70 kg.
Busch UK was established in 1971 and supplies what it describes as a comprehensive range of vacuum pumps, low pressure compressors and systems, which are designed and built to meet the individual needs of its customers.
The Telford base features a full service and support centre. The company has more than 1,800 employees working in 48 manufacturing and operations facilities around the world. Busch Vacuum Pumps & Systems was founded in Germany in 1963 by Dr-Ing and Ayhan Busch

Read the full article at Food Processing