Open frame structure and stainless steel motor hygiene advantages
At the time, MULTIVAC developed their own handling modules and robots for several reasons. AloisAllgaier explained: “We meet extremely stringent hygiene requirements for the packaging machinery industry in the food industry, which is our benchmark in handling and robotics. There is no suitable system on the market. We developed our robot arm for the feeding area according to our own ideas and objectives. Finally, we designed a stainless steel frame structure, which is very convenient to clean because it is completely open. It complies with FDA standards. The Beckhoff AM8800 stainless steel servo motors also work because they are very simple to install and do not require an extra protective casing."
The AM8800 series servo motors are made of stainless steel and are designed according to the guidelines of EHEDG (European Hygienic Engineering Design Organization) using a "hygienic design". The lubricant used complies with the Food Safety Regulations (FDA). The motor windings are realized by variable pole winding technology. Therefore, it has a high copper wire duty factor and a corresponding continuous large torque. The fully enclosed stator provides the ideal winding thermal contact for the motor housing. Another benefit of this is that the winding wires can be mechanically protected from oscillation. Since the outer casing and motor shaft are made of scratch-resistant stainless steel AISI316L, there is no creep corrosion or damage on the surface of the coating. The motor protection class is IP69K and a high pressure steam cleaner can be used. The motor has an optional sealed air connection to prevent condensation from forming inside the motor.
MULTIVAC uses a 2-channel EtherCAT servo drive from the Beckhoff AX5206 model to control the motor and pick-and-place system to operate two motors of the same or different sizes. The stainless steel servo motor used includes the AM8843 model with rated torque of 3.9 Nm, locked rotor torque of 4.5 Nm and peak torque of 16.5 Nm, and AM8852 model with rated torque of 5.1 Nm, locked rotor torque of 6.0 Nm and peak torque of 22.5 Nm. . This can be used in conjunction with a high-speed EtherCAT communication system for highly dynamic and highly accurate handling tasks.
