GFX guidance for Beckhoff XTS provides a high speed, low maintenance solution for the packaging industry

For this core role, the GFX HepcoMotion Guidance System for Beckhoff XTS eXtended Transport System is used. Linear motion expert HepcoMotion has worked with Beckhoff to develop specialised versions of the PRT2 and 1-Trak guidance systems to work with the Beckhoff XTS. This option meets the needs of higher duty XTS applications where motion profiles and long term durability requirements are particularly demanding.

The Beckhoff XTS uses linear motor technology to drive independently controlled movers around a track. This is particularly useful in this application as it allows dwell at the operation stations.  An individual mover can therefore be controlled and stopped at an operation station irrespective of the other movers. As each operation takes a different amount of time, this is an advantage for the Kliklok ITC as throughput is not limited by the slowest process.

The positional accuracy provided by the Beckhoff XTS is important for placing the food items into the cartons. The motion of each mover is independently controlled, offering complex high-speed motion profiles without compromising positional accuracy.

In this application, the Beckhoff XTS system integrates Hepco’s patented 1-Trak guidance system. Lightweight three bearing movers follow a track comprising straight and circular arc sections and a clothoid curved transition. This shape gives a gentler motion for the movers and allows the machine to run faster and more smoothly than would be possible for a “running track” oval shape. These 1-Trak systems provide rigidity and the highest level of accuracy and precision which is needed to allow the Beckhoff XTS to perform at its best.

The system rigidity offered by Hepco’s GFX track system is a core benefit for Kliklok – particularly for the carton forming module. Cartons are formed with a single servo-controlled plunger pushing directly onto the independently controlled movers. Inevitably a load is applied to the mover at this point, as well as during the closing operation and the robotic loading module.

The packaging industry is notoriously demanding and highly competitive, requiring high-quality parts in order to keep machines running smoothly day after day. Packaging applications need to stay on schedule and produce high product throughput with utmost reliability in order to be profitable. The Hepco GFX system uses components from the tried and tested Hepco PRT2 system which routinely function in high speed, high duty applications with little more attention than lubrication and occasional cleaning. Downtime costs are therefore reduced and productivity is maximised.

Conveniently this can all be done without having to re-configure the system, saving production time and thereby increasing product throughput. With speeds of 2.5m/s, up to 80 cartons per minute can be formed, loaded and closed on the ITC. The system uses a 6m long GFX circuit with 10 x three-bearing, size 34 1-Trak movers. Food grade grease is released though Hepco’s integrated bleed lubrication facility which channels lubricant directly to the V faces of the straight slide for effective lubrication of the track system.

The combination of Beckhoff’s XTS and Hepco’s GFX guidance system has enabled Bosch to develop a revolutionary product, boasting one of the highest speeds available for a solution with such a small footprint.

Hepco’s GFX guidance for Beckhoff XTS is a highly versatile product that is rapidly being adopted in the packaging industry for applications such as this, where users are looking to benefit from vastly improved production rates with the ability to make on the fly product changes.