pick and place

Pick-and-place is a term from robotics and refers to the automated process of placing a component or workpiece. This can involve simple sorting tasks, in which workpieces are automatically identified and arranged in a storage system or placed into packaging.

Alternatively, the pick-and-place operation can be part of a production process in which one component is placed onto another and both are then further processed.

Pick-and-place operations make up a large proportion of the processes that can be automated in manufacturing systems.

Modern pick-and-place systems can be equipped with various optical technologies depending on the field of application. These systems are used to identify, inspect, or sort the workpieces being processed.

Even the names of the different technologies indicate how complex the measurement methods are that are used today to control pick-and-place systems correctly for specific applications.

The following technologies, as well as different combinations of them, are among those commonly used today: 3D scanning, white-light interferometry, confocal light, focus variation, and measurement microscopy.

For every specific application of a pick-and-place system, detailed and complex planning is therefore required in order to select and configure the appropriate technologies for the respective field of use.

In film processing, the task of a pick-and-place robot is often to pick a single viewing window film from a stack of window blanks and place it precisely onto a package where it is to be bonded. The bonding itself is then another step in the production process.

Further processing of the packaging material with the bonded viewing window is generally carried out by another pick-and-place robot, which positions the carton packaging in a folding machine.

For filling, the fully folded carton is then placed again in another step using pick-and-place technology on the filling line.

Viewing window films that are to be processed through automated pick-and-place systems must have a certain stiffness and robustness so that they can be gripped by the robots used and not be damaged.

A micro-rough surface simplifies and speeds up the automated process, because the film can be detected more easily by the optical sensors of the pick-and-place robots.

This allows the machines to operate at higher speeds, resulting in cost savings during the bonding process.

At Bleher Folientechnik, we offer viewing window films for pick-and-place processing made from different materials. The optimont® films 501, UC, and AF are produced from biaxially oriented PET film, known as BOPET film. This material is food-contact compliant, heat-resistant, and highly transparent.

The adhesion-enhanced surface ensures excellent processability in pick-and-place applications.

optimont® 501-R-PET is also a BOPET film, manufactured with 90 percent recycled PET content.

In addition, the Bleher product range also includes viewing window films made from renewable raw materials. optimont® PLA is produced from polylactic acid, and optimont® CDA is made from cellulose derived from thinning wood.

Both renewable-resource films are of course food-contact compliant, compostable, and can be processed using pick-and-place technology.

• Food contact compliance, also known as food safety suitability, is a basic prerequisite for use in the food industry.
• Viewing windows in food packaging must not release any toxic substances that could be absorbed by the packaged food.
• Good anti-fog properties ensure that residual moisture from the food does not condense on the viewing window film.
• Producers of organically manufactured foods often require the use of bio-based viewing window films for packaging as well.
• In the organic sector, and beyond, compostable viewing window films are increasingly valued.
• Good printability, for example for printing expiration dates, is important in food packaging.
• The smell and taste of the packaged food must not be affected in any way.

Depending on the base material, Bleher offers viewing window films in thicknesses ranging from 7 to 500 µm. The required thickness must be precisely matched to the pick-and-place system being used.

To suit the machine used for the bonding process, viewing window films must be supplied in the appropriate format. For this purpose, we provide viewing window films in special cut-to-size formats.

For pick-and-place machines equipped with their own cutting systems, we also supply viewing window films as short rolls, narrow rolls, as well as mother or master rolls.