At Pack Expo in Chicago this week, Universal Robots (UR) is showcasing the first solution for random robotic case erecting, the Xpak Robox. The new UR powered box erector developed by Xpak, allows packagers to randomly erect any box in their suite on-demand without changeover.
The Xpak Robox is equipped with a UR10e cobot arm that picks a flat box from one of two magazines, squares the case, folds and seals the bottom flaps with 2-inch tape.
Additional magazine and custom box conveyance options allow the Xpak Robox to integrate seamlessly into any packaging environment.
“This collaborative design not only enables the operator to safely and intuitively interface with our machine, Robox also realises approximately 60% reduction in terms of the footprint required for a similar machine using more conventional robotic technology requiring fencing,” says William Reilly, technical sales engineer with Xpak.
The UR10e is the largest cobot in Universal Robots new flagship line of cobots, the e-Series, showcased for the first time at a Pack Expo. The e-Series sets a new standard for cobots, adding built-in force/torque sensing, unrivalled safety features, and improved precision for faster integration in a wider range of future-proofed applications.
“The e-Series strengthens the core principles defining collaborative robots: Fast set-up, easy programming, flexible deployment, safe operation, and a quick ROI,” says Stuart Shepherd, Regional Sales Director of Universal Robots’ Americas region.
“End-users with complex applications and diverse or uncertain future needs will benefit from the e-Series platform and our unique UR+ ecosystem knowing that their investment will be able to grow with them as their needs change,” explains Shepherd.
Also launching at UR’s Pack Expo booth is the new PalletizUR from ONExia, a portable, collaborative palletising system that features a UR10e cobot with graphic software for simple pallet building. This mobile system requires no written code to program and is ready to work in minutes.
Universal Robots e-Series line started shipping in August this year. Stuart Shepherd said: “It’s exciting to see our partner network embracing our new cobots, incorporating them into cutting edge applications in such a short time.
“We’re confident the packaging industry will deploy a significant number of e-Series cobots in the years to come.”
