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• What was needed: Lead screw axes, toothed belt axes and linear rails
• Requirements: A cost-effective and scalable solution for the vending machine that can simultaneously ensure food safety and handle low temperatures.
• Industry: Vending machinery
• Success for the customer: Our axes, in combination with motor and control system, ensure a cost-effective turnkey solution that meets the requirements.

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Problem

In the search for suitable components for the Alberts One, real all-rounders were sought. The company was looking for guidance that was compact, quiet, low-maintenance, temperature-resistant, hygienic and quick to clean.

The biggest challenges for Alberts were to maintain the quality of the food and at the same time develop a robotic vending machine that was technically perfected and yet cost-effective. Especially in view of the costs, implementing a full-fledged robot arm was out of the question. This would result in immense costs, which would mean that the full potential of the machine would not be exploited. We were looking for a lean and scalable solution.

But there were also other technical challenges that needed to be solved. Electromechanical solutions were sought that could work efficiently even at -18°C. Furthermore, the components had to be particularly space-saving.

Solution

The number of degrees of freedom was reduced to a minimum and the highly complex system was optimised to ultimately arrive at a marketable solution concept. Through in-house development, Alberts managed to develop a machine that can work in the deep-frozen sector, while also reducing costs by €15,000, which now makes the machine cost-effective by more than half the price of some of the competitors' machines.

The horizontal movement of the robot arm takes place via the drylin® W linear rail. It is made of anodised, corrosion-free aluminium and is characterised by a flat design. The robot arm moves on it, which in turn is mounted on a drylin® W linear carriage, driven by a toothed belt. The chainflex® control cable, designed for a particularly narrow bend radius with limited space requirements, follows the movement in an energy chain made of high-performance plastic. 

All igus® components are free of lubrication and thus reduce maintenance costs. A system was developed with the help of the igus® parts, which also has low vibration and is ideal for use in the food industry.

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Lead screw drive or toothed belt? How to find the right linear module