Bread Robot

Two-axis packaging robots do considerable work in assembling and packing food items like baked goods, boxed cereal, boxed dairy products and mincemeat in trays. The system involves picking, placing, arranging and conveying individual items and the final packages. A wide range of Thomson components contribute to this vital food-processing function, including ball screws, guides, full linear motion systems and planetary gears and servo motors – all meeting strict washdown demands.

Belt Driven Linear Unit

Facilitates rapid transfer of in-process material to maximize line throughput.

Precision Linear Actuator

Accurately raises and lowers vertical gripper assembly to grasp and release product.

Planetary Gearhead and Servo Motor

Provides torque amplification and speed reduction to accurately position vertical axis on conveyor beds.

Linear Guide and Ball Screw Assembly

Accurately positions food and accounts for variation in product size.

Skewer/Assembly

Thomson’s components and solutions shine in high-throughput multi-axis applications such as assembly lines with skewers. Skewer units employ gearheads and clutches, brakes and resolvers and rodless actuators in optimal combinations. Skewer units can employ dual guides for raising and lowering, or these can be replaced with a single profile rail or two profile rails. These also employ clutches and gearboxes to complement the motor unit.

These multi-axis food-processing applications are tailor-made for Thomson’s integrated solutions. Consult with us early in the design process to leverage our testing capacity and customized solutions, our sourcing advantages and our collaboration with other Danaher divisions. The result will be a better machine delivered more quickly.

Integrated Components

Thomson can optimize a multi-conponent, multi-axis application through design expertise and one-stop sourcing. The result is speed-to-market and superior uptime.

Stainless Steel Gearheads

Every motor in a food-processing application is an opportunity for a stainless steel Micron® gearhead, for IP66/IP67/IP69K protection, longevity and superior performance.

Electromechanical Advantage

Electromechanical components deliver superior controllability and more even force than hydraulic or pneumatic motion-control systems. The result is minimal tolerance stack-up and reduced scrap and spills.

Food Vending Machine

Actuators of multiple sizes, ball screws, gearheads and full linear motion systems combine to control the multiple stages in this application, where frozen dinner boxes are placed in a microwave and heated before being delivered to a hatch for the customer.

Here, as with a food packaging robot, ball screws can replace actuators in many cases, to provide more customizability at reasonable cost.

Linear Actuator and Linear-Motion System

The dinner box is pushed out of the freezer by a linear actuator and positioned sideways via a linear-motion system, which is driven by a motor and a gearhead.

Actuators

Actuators push the dinner box onto a transport conveyor and also open the hatch for access by customer.

Deboner

These heavy-duty positioning machines promote safety by handling the hard work of positioning carcasses for deboning. In this application, round rail linear guides are employed in an elevator that brings product to an overhead monorail crane system. Horizontal motion is driven by a zero-setup linear motion assembly with a stainless steel Micron gearhead. These components must be extremely durable and must withstand high-pressure, caustic washdowns, to ensure food safety.

Crane System

The monorail crane system is modular, lightweight, and simple and fast to install.

Linear System

The Thomson linear system and food-grade gearhead are well suited to harsh washdown environments. Thomson also offers as an alternative to pre-assembled systems the widest available family of linear guides and components to construct custom linear systems.

Food Press

Food press applications can employ numerous Thomson components and fully engineered solutions. The press mechanism can make use of a high-load rodded actuator with a friction break and feedback element. The stop block can be raised and lowered with the help of a linear actuator, and the slicer can employ a planetary gearbox and round-rail linear guides, all resistant to corrosion and caustic cleaning elements. Underneath, a wrap-spring clutch helps index the motor driving the conveyor belt.

Precision Linear Actuators

Precision linear actuators provide clean, compact, maintenance-free operation compared to hydraulic and pneumatic actuation. Converting to electric actuation can speed assembly and reduce overall costs.

Bread Robot

Two-axis packaging robots do considerable work in assembling and packing food items like baked goods, boxed cereal, boxed dairy products and mincemeat in trays. The system involves picking, placing, arranging and conveying individual items and the final packages. A wide range of Thomson components contribute to this vital food-processing function, including ball screws, guides, full linear motion systems and planetary gears and servo motors – all meeting strict washdown demands.

Belt Driven Linear Unit

Facilitates rapid transfer of in-process material to maximize line throughput.

Precision Linear Actuator

Accurately raises and lowers vertical gripper assembly to grasp and release product.

Planetary Gearhead and Servo Motor

Provides torque amplification and speed reduction to accurately position vertical axis on conveyor beds.

Linear Guide and Ball Screw Assembly

Accurately positions food and accounts for variation in product size.