Ever since Fernando Serpa began making end-of-line packaging machinery in 1981 for Serpa Packaging Solutions the company’s philosophy has been to improve upon its existing products. So when Serpa reintroduced its signature P200 balcony case packer, it turned to Bosch Rexroth Corp. to provide the product expertise and applications support for an integrated electric drives and control and linear-motion solution.
　　To help reduce costs and improve machine efficiency, Serpa also collaborated with local automation distributor Applied International Motion  to specify and implement the Bosch Rexroth motion- and servo-control system.
　　Machine runs cases and trays
　　According to Serpa, the P200 is the first case packer to be able to run cases and trays on the same machine. The machine collates the product to achieve the correct patternwww.cechina.cn, loads the product into the case or tray and seals and discharges it. The servo-controlled erector motion has two camshaft profile axes that drive a parallel-link arm. The arm picks up the case and erects it in the same area where the loading takes place. Because the loading and case erection occur in the same area, it reduces the overall footprint and maximizes the speed of the P200.
　　Using Rexroth servos helped simplify the overall design for easy access and a smaller footprint. For the P200, Serpa opted for Rexroth’s IndraDrive intelligent digital servo drivesCONTROL ENGINEERING China版权所有, IndraDyn servo motorswww.cechina.cn, and a linear Ball Rail? system. The motion and logic was programmed with Rexroth IndraWorks software.
　　Instead of a mechanical drive, Serpa used Rexroth’s servo system to create an electronic line shaft with cam-profile movement. The P200 uses multiaxis synchronization with the ability to change motion profiles on the fly. Of the seven axeswww.cechina.cn, four are synchronized using electronic cam shafts and three are point-to-point axes.
　　To achieve proper forming of the casewww.cechina.cn, the erector and walking beam motion are tightly synchronized through SERCOS III communicatio