Marcheluzzo Impianti – Technology for the Palmar Group in Argentina

»2 View of production

»3 Cutter

»4 Kiln car loading

»5 Unloading of dry material

»6 Unloading and packaging line

»6 Storage area with packed brick pallets

»1 Dario Marcheluzzo (left) and the president Claudio Farina

The excellent reputation of Marcheluzzo Impianti as a supplier of state-of-the-art technology solutions to meet all kinds of requirements was the clinching argument for the Palmar Group based in Cordoba (Argentina). The Group awarded the Italian company with a contract for the supply of its new machine equipment. Aim of the modernization was to improve the plant capacity – without any detrimental effect on the product quality or the working time of the operators.

To meet these specifications, Marcheluzzo designed and realized the

› loading/unloading line

› line for handling the pallets, including the lifters for setting the green products and for unloading the dried ones

› handling line for the dryer cars

› setting machine and the gripper for setting the packs of fired products

The entire project was designed not only to reach but exceed the new output specifications. Even allowing sufficient time for routine cleaning and maintenance time, the new lines produce 2 000 t fired products per day.

The new lines have been coordinated with the existing machines for clay preparation and extrusion, starting from palletizing of the green products. New lifters have been installed for loading and unloading the pallets on/off the cars. A continuous loading/off-loading cycle for the cars is planned, which will enable optimization of the working time and reduce machine wear.

The pallet circuit includes a new automatic gripper for handling the pallets in order to set up pallet store so as to enable modification of the number of pallets on the cars without affecting the production cycle both of the extruder and loading of the kiln cars. Other advantages of this: on stoppage of the setting machine, the extruder and loading of the green products can continue. In addition, the setting machine can be used to unload the dried products if the extruder and/or clay preparation are temporarily down.

The new line for handling the dryer cars runs more smoothly and consequently a better stability of the blocks is ensured, so the percentage of rejects is reduced and the quality of the products is improved.

The equipment supplied by Marcheluzzo Impianti also includes the new twin transfer cars inside the dryer with the purpose of optimizing the production cycle thanks to the simultaneous handling of two cars.

The Marcheluzzo Impianti design department focused its attention on innovative solutions for the setting machine, especially in the areas where the modules are programmed and the loading grippers are fed. The ceiling blocks are turned on a special chain bench with tilting rollers so that automatic operation is possible with a simple, electronically controlled system despite the large number of different products.

The solutions, which were all carefully scrutinized prior to their implementation, ensure the best care for reliable handling of the dried products, in order to maximize the quality of the finished products.

The kiln cars are loaded with 8-head grippers that Marcheluzzo Impianti designed specifically to set different models with their different setting requirements.

The existing unloading line for the fired material has been equipped with a new twin head gripper that is operated pneumatically. This avoids all the tedious problems associated with a continuous need for maintenance of hydraulic systems.

This new type of gripper has a great lifting power so that complete packs can be transported with pneumatic control. The system includes a supplementary twin-head pneumatic gripper for taking up one layer to complete the load (“filling up”) in order to optimize the size of the finished packs.

Special attention was given to the working health and safety conditions. The various working zones are completely protected by enclosures and are made accessible through electric gates which can only be opened by the operator, or they are protected by photocells to prevent any accidents and protect the health of the plant operators. The latest CEE standards have been applied as for safety and cleaning of the working zones.

Naturally, the whole project was realized by the Marcheluzzo Impianti engineers in line with the guidelines issued by the technical management of the Palmar Group: to keep pace with development and be prepared for the constant challenges of the market.