Palletizers

IQS Newsroom Articles on Palletizers

About Palletizers and Palletizer Systems Including: Automatic Palletizers,  Bag Palletizers, Case Picking, Depalletizers, Drum Palletizers, Load Transfer Stations, Low Level Palletizers, Pallet Dispensers, Palletizing Equipment, Palletizing Machines, Palletizing Systems & Robotic Palletizers.

Palletizers are automated machines or conveyor systems which arrange a maximum load of packaged product units onto a pallet for distribution, a process typically referred to as case picking. Pallet loads are frequently used for mass shipping and distribution as a convenient means of consolidating many smaller units into one larger, more easily handled unit. Because individual packaged units can be heavy, awkward, and physically strenuous to handle manually, many manufacturing and distribution plants use automated palletizers, conveyorized palletizing systems and robotic palletizers. Automated conveyor palletizers may be low level palletizers which load packaged units from a floor level, or they may be high level palletizers which move packaged units from another story above. Palletizing machines may be designed to handle one type of product, such as bag palletizers, case palletizers, drum palletizers and bottle palletizers, or they may handle several different types of packages. Distribution centers and manufacturing facilities handling incoming shipments often use depalletizers to unload packaged units, and palletizing equipment accessories such as pallet dispensers and load transfer stations are used to assist in managing both pallets and loads.

There are three main types of palletizers: robotic palletizers, low level palletizers and high level palletizers. Robotic palletizers are typically stationed between a conveyor line of incoming product units and a pallet dispenser. A hydraulic robotic arm lifts cases, bottles, bags or drums using flat pincer arms or suction cup arms in organized rows onto a pallet, stacking units with near-perfect precision. Robotic palletizers may be altered to work with different types of product units and are excellent for handling fragile or heavy product units, although they may be slower, as they can only place one unit or row at a time. Low level and high level palletizers are conveyorized palletizers which have a feed area that receives the goods which are to be palletized. In low level palletizers, or floor-entry palletizers, products are loaded from the ground level, while high level palletizers are loaded from above or from the story above. The packaged units are received by roller conveyors and are continuously transferred and sorted to the pallets by automated conveyor rollers, allowing greater packaging speed than robotic palletizers. Low and high level conveyors may be fully automatic, requiring no manual involvement, or they may be semi automatic, requiring loads to be manually connected and disconnected from the palletizer lifting arm.

Automatic and robotic palletizers have many advantages over manual pallet loading, including precision, load stability and worker ergonomics. Palletizing units can work faster and have better consistency than a human operator, who may incur expensive injuries as a result of continuous lifting. Palletizers can withstand repetative motion and heavy loads far better than manual laborers. These units also come with safety features like QuickSTOP collision sensors and Smartscan work cell perimeter guards. QuickSTOP has sensors that will shut down the work cell and deflate to absorb impact, which minimizes damage to equipment and to the product. Smartscan has L- and T- shaped curtain units which detect a pallet or a person passing through unsafe areas of the system. If a pallet is detected in the work cell, it is allowed to pass through, but if a person is detected, then movement is stopped immediately.

Automatic and robotic palletizers generally appeal to users with mid- to high range needs. Users with low range needs assume palletizing units are out of their budget, but most suppliers claim that palletizing systems can be purchased using the money that would be saved from avoiding one back injury. Palletizers can also save manufacturers and distributors costly product damage due to faulty pallet loading or unloading. Most high volume packaging and distribution operations use palletizing systems, some of which have multiple input lines with multiple palletizing stations. With constantly advancing technology in manufacturing, palletizers can be integrated directly into manufacturing and packaging systems; unstable pallet loads, such as bag loads, can be shrink wrapped as part of the palletizing system, saving facilities both time and money.

Palletizers and Palletizer Systems Images Provided by Columbia Machine, Inc.

Palletizers and Palletizer Systems Images Provided by Möllers North America, Inc.

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Palletizer Types

• Articulated arm palletizers are a type of robotic palletizer that have a jointed arm, which gives them a greater range of motion and flexibility, while positioning products on a four-axis motion.
  
• Automatic palletizers assemble products on pallets by themselves or with little assistance, mainly limited to restocking packaging components. They can often be part of a larger shipping system.
  
• Bag palletizers include gripping modifications specifically to arrange bags on pallets for shipping and/or movement.
  
• Can palletizers arrange filled or empty cans onto pallets for shipping or moving.
  
• Case palletizers lift cases from tables and place them onto a pallet or previous layer of product.
• Case picking is the gathering of full cartons or boxes of product, typically done on a pallet.
• Depalletizers remove products by layer from pallets for leveling or stocking purposes.
  
• Drum palletizers move filled or empty drums onto pallets for shipping or moving.
  
• Gantry palletizers are a type of robotic palletizer that consists of a combination of a robotic arm and an overhead crane or I-bean.
  
• In-line palletizer systems can stack complete layers of cartons or bags at one time.
• Load transfer stations are pallet transfer systems that transfer loads from one pallet to another pallet without disassembling. 
• Low level palletizers, or floor level palletizers, are a type of automated conveyor palletizer that can load packaged units from a floor level.
• Manual palletizers speed the stacking goods onto a pallet and aid with layer organization.
  
• Pail palletizers include modifications specifically to arrange pails on pallets for shipping and/or movement.
• Pallet dispensers, also known as pallet feeders, are devices that are used to feed or dispense empty pallets to conveyors in larger palletizing systems or automatic palletizers.
• Palletizing refers to the packaging process of arranging of products on a pallet for transportation purposes.
• Palletizing equipment refers to the various machines used to pack and transport pallets.
• Palletizing machines are automated machines or conveyor systems which arrange a maximum load of packaged product units onto a pallet for distribution. 
• Palletizing systems are material handling systems which arrange a maximum load of packaged product units onto a pallet for distribution.
• Robotic palletizers lift and move goods to pallets automatically or semi-automatically, relieving workers from the potential hazards of heavy, repetitive lifting.
  
• Row stripper palletizers are a type of in-line palletizer that organizes a row and pushes it aside until another row is formed and put on top of the previous row, which is done until a full pallet is completed.
  
• Selective compliant articulated robot arm (SCARA) palletizers are a type of robotic palletizer that use a mast and cross arm to place products through four axes of motion.
  
• Semi-automatic palletizers allow an operator to stack layers of heavy products with no lifting.
  
• Vacuum-head unit is a type of in-line palletizer that clutches products with air powered suction cups and places the items on the pallets.  

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Palletizer Terms

Captive Pallet - A pallet that stays within a facility and is not exchanged, traded or delivered off site.
 
Deck - The top or bottom surface of the pallet.
 
Deflection - The amount of bending in a pallet or one of its components when under a load.
 
Fork Entry - The place for forks to enter and move the pallet, usually between decks or under the top deck.  
 
Line Load - The weight of a unit load concentrated across the entire length or width of the pallet or along a narrow area.
 
Load Bearing Surface - The area of material that is in contact with and is supporting a unit load.
 
Mast-Equipped Automatic Guided Vehicles (AGVs) - Vehicles that move unit loads and storing or retrieving pallets and unit loads.
 
Pallets - Platforms used to stack goods on for shipping, storing or moving. They can have two-way or four-way entry by fork trucks.
 
Pallet Design System (PDS) - A computer-aided design program that helps determine safe load carrying capacities, performance, life and economy of wooden pallets.
 
Pallet Jack - A manual wheeled platform used for lifting palletized unit loads.
 
Racked Across Deckboards - The maximum load carrying capacity and deflection of a pallet where, at the ends of the deckboards, the rack frame sustains the pallet.
 
Racked Across Stringers - The maximum carrying capacity of a pallet where, only at the ends of the stringers or stringer boards, the rack frame sustains the pallet.
 
Slave Pallet - A panel used to support the base of a palletized load in rack-storage facilities.
 
Strapping - Bands, which secure the goods or load to the pallet.
 
Throughput - The amount of output or production in a given period of time.
 
Top Cap - Panel placed on top of goods on a pallet that protects them from damage when strapping occurs.
 
Unit Load - The collecting of goods to be moved or shipped onto a pallet.

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