The fully automatic bottle unloading machine is a crucial backend equipment in modern packaging assembly lines for food, beverage, chemical, pharmaceutical, and other industries. Its core task is to efficiently, safely, and orderly remove cleaned or filled bottles from plastic turnover baskets (or boxes) and smoothly transport them to the conveyor belt of the next process (such as labeling, packaging, or direct palletizing).
Its working principle can be decomposed into the following core steps:
Detailed explanation of the working principle of the fully automatic bottle unloading machine
Step 1: Positioning in the basket
The plastic turnover basket containing bottles is transported by conveyor belt or forklift to the workstation of the bottle unloading machine. The machine will have an automatic positioning or stopping mechanism to ensure that the material basket is accurately transported to the preset bottle unloading station and secured to prevent movement during the unloading process.
Step 2: Basket clamping and lifting
Clamping mechanism: The fixture on the equipment (usually pneumatic or hydraulic drive) will firmly clamp the basket from both sides or above to ensure its stability.
Lifting mechanism: The entire clamping mechanism, along with the material basket, will be smoothly lifted upwards by a lifting device (such as a screw or chain driven by a servo motor).
Step 3: Bottle Unloading Execution (Core Steps)
This is the most crucial step, which mainly involves two mainstream technologies:
1. Gripper type (most commonly used)
Bottle clamp head descent: At the same time or after the material basket is lifted, a bottle clamp head with multiple claws that matches the internal dimensions of the basket will descend from above and penetrate deep into the interior of the basket.
Clamping the bottle mouth: When the bottle head reaches the predetermined depth (usually the neck of the bottle), the jaws will move simultaneously to clamp the entire basket of bottles together from the bottle mouth. Claws are usually made of flexible food grade silicone or polyurethane materials, which can provide sufficient friction without damaging the bottle body.
Whole extraction: After clamping the bottle, lift the bottle clamp head upwards and "pull" the entire layer of bottles from the material basket at once.
2. Top up type
This method is opposite to the clamp lift method. After the material basket is lifted, it remains stationary. A top plate or lifting bracket will rise from below the bottom of the material basket, pushing the bottles up and out of the basket as a whole. Then, they will be caught and removed by a robotic arm or conveyor mechanism.
At present, the clamp type is more widely used due to its stability and efficiency.
Step 4: Bottle Transfer and Placement
The bottle clamping head that holds the entire layer of bottles is moved above the conveyor belt next to it through a crossbeam or robotic arm.
After reaching the designated position, the gripper is smoothly released and the bottles are neatly placed on the horizontal conveyor belt.
Some advanced devices also have a layered bottle unloading function, which means only one layer of bottles is clamped and placed at a time, suitable for stacking multiple layers of high baskets, more gentle, and can effectively handle fragile bottles.
Step 5: Empty Basket Handling
After all the bottles are removed, the bottle clamp is reset, the lifting mechanism descends, and the empty basket is placed back on the conveyor belt.
The empty basket is then transported out of the unloading area, into the empty basket conveyor line, and sent to the stacking area or cleaning station for the next cycle of use.
Step 6: Bottle Conveyor
The bottles placed on the conveyor belt are smoothly transported to the next process, completing the entire unloading process.