Keller HCW plant technology sets new handling standards for roofing tiles

Once again, the Keller HCW engineers in Ibbenbüren-Laggenbeck have succeeded in developing a future-oriented installation for the ceramics industry. Thanks to cutting-edge conveyor and drive technology, they have created a reliable solution with high availability that sets new standards both for quality management and for plant productivity. For the Brüggen plant (lower Rhine area) operated by Röben Tonbaustoffe GmbH, Keller HCW has developed a fully automated plant using robots to unload roofing tiles from the kiln car, to check their quality, and to sort and pack them.

4 300 roofing tiles per hour are unloaded from a kiln car with a one-layer free-standing setting. The roofing tiles are then separated and placed into a horizontal position. At defined intervals, they are conveyed to an automatic surface inspection system. Without any contact, the surfaces of the high-quality roofing tiles are then scanned for dimensional accuracy, absence of cracks, shape and surface finish. In fractions of a second, the system decides whether the scanned roof tiles meet the high quality requirements and can be passed on to the packaging station. Every single non-conformity, no matter how small, which is not within configurable, very tight tolerances is registered, stored and the respective roof tile is automatically discarded. Robots pick up the tested and approved roof tiles and regroup them into small packs which are strapped for further transport. The number of roofing tiles composed to small packs can be configured, giving the customer high flexibility to react to current market requirements.

As a turnkey project, Keller HCW adapted the machinery to the existing space available, It is another successful example for the good cooperation between the companies Röben Tonbaustoffe and Keller HCW.