Qimarox introduces a vertical conveyor for AMRs - Meet the Prorunner PR12

 

Quick and safe transport of AMRs between multiple floors

Harderwijk, 14-10, 2022 - Qimarox, a leading manufacturer of components for material handling systems, introduces a vertical conveyor for automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). The Prorunner PR12 is ideally suited to transporting these vehicles between different floors. The high positioning accuracy, the rigidity of the construction and the possibility of mounting a second carrier result in a safe and reliable high-capacity transport solution.

 Autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) are rapidly gaining in popularity. They are relatively cheap, flexible and scalable. They can be easily deployed without having to modify the existing infrastructure. Since they can handle a large part of the internal transport, they allow people to work faster and more efficiently. However, AMRs and AGVs have always had one limitation: they were difficult to move between different floors.

Qimarox's Prorunner PR12 changes all that. The PR12 is a vertical conveyor that significantly extends the range of AMRs. By moving robots with or without cargo between floors, companies can further increase their deployability and flexibility. In other words, the PR12 allows companies to grow in height. The first machines have already been delivered to an e-commerce company.

 

Safe and fast

The Prorunner PR12 is a discontinuous vertical conveyor with a minimal footprint. Its rigid construction and high positioning accuracy make the PR12 highly suitable for transporting AMRs and AGVs. Since the tolerances in vertical and horizontal directions are less than 5 millimetres, the vehicles can drive on and off the platform without difficulty. The PR12 is equipped with contour monitoring: if the vehicle on the platform starts to slide or roll, the machine comes to an immediate stop.

 The Prorunner PR12 offers a high capacity. With a height difference of 2 metres, the PR12 makes no less than 400 cycles per hour. What makes the machine unique is the possibility of attaching two separately driven carriers to one column. This makes it possible to easily double the transport capacity while keeping the space requirement to a minimum. The vertical range of the Prorunner PR12 is up to 24 metres. A single machine can, therefore, easily serve three, four, five or even more floors.

 

Also for products

Not only can the Prorunner PR12 be used for transporting AMRs and AGVs, but for products and load carriers too. In this case, the AMR and AGV platform can easily be replaced with a roller conveyor. If the PR12 is equipped with two carriers, any configuration is possible: two platforms, two roller conveyors or a combination of one platform and one roller conveyor. Even if the logistics concept changes over time, the PR12 can easily be converted.

 Like all Qimarox material handling components, the Prorunner PR12 is modular, resulting in a high degree of configurability, competitive pricing, short delivery times and low maintenance costs. By using a servo drive, the PR12 can be easily integrated into any demanding, dynamic and challenging system design.

 

Key benefits:

·         Extremely high positioning accuracy (servomotor)

·         Robust column ladder design allows lifting of heavy loads

·         Fully standardized, user friendly modular design

·         High quality constructive finishing

·         Top global brands standard components used

·         Heavy duty option for weights up to 300 kg / 661 lb

·         Suitable for AGV / AMR thanks to positioning accuracy

·         Low maintenance requirements

·         Available with independently driven 1 or 2 carriers

·         Capable of handling pallet sized products

 

Qimarox takes even heavier pallets to a higher level

New modular pallet lift for pallets up to 2000 kg

With the Prorunner mk10, Qimarox introduces an extremely robust product elevator for pallets of up to 2000 kg. This product lift can transport up to sixty pallets per hour, ten metres upwards. This standardised, modular product lift can be integrated into any end-of-line packaging system or storage system and can furthermore be used in conjunction with the Highrunner mk7, Qimarox’s unique product palletiser.

The Qimarox Prorunner mk10 is based on the design of the successful Prorunner mk9 pallet lift. The most important difference is that the new Prorunner mk10 features four instead of two columns, allowing it to easily transport pallets weighing up to 2000 kg.

The Prorunner mk10 can easily bridge any difference in height between 0.40 and 10 metres. Even at the maximum height difference of 10 metres, the lift can still easily transport sixty pallets per hour with ease. The Prorunner mk10 is equipped with a lifting platform of 1200 x 1200 mm as standard that can be fitted with a pallet track, so that it can handle not only euro pallets, but also product carriers of different sizes such as block pallets.

Combined with a palletiser

The Prorunner mk10 can be used stand alone or in combination with Qimarox’s unique Highrunner mk7 palletiser. With the Highrunner mk7, the supplied products are pushed together into rows or layers that can be deposited on a pallet in one go by a patented pattern-formation slider.

With the Highrunner, the pattern-formation conveyor is located at a height, while the pallet can move up and down thanks to the Prorunner mk10. The top of the pallet will therefore always remain at the same height as the pattern-formation conveyor, resulting in a shorter cycle time and higher capacity. The introduction of this new pallet lift therefore makes it possible to palletise products up to a weight of 2000 kg per pallet.

Infeed and outfeed along four sides

Thanks to its four-column construction, pallets can be fed in and out on four different sides. It is also possible to use a single machine to supply multiple infeed or outfeed levels, so that the lift can also be used for, for example, vertical sorting. Because the lift is constructed out of standard sections, its height can be increased in 250 mm increments. The drive consists of a standard SEW electric motor, which can be attached at floor level or at the level of the intermediate floor, depending on your needs.

Thanks to its fully standardised and modular design, the Prorunner mk10 provides a short payback time and low total cost of ownership. The lift is built exclusively from standard components that are easy to replace. The Prorunner mk10 is constructed using steel instead of aluminium columns, which ensures great stability despite the dynamic forces that occur during operation. Lifting in the Prorunner mk10 is done with steel chains, which are tensioned by a counterweight.

Standard model

Like the other Qimarox products, the Prorunner mk10 is marketed by machine builders and system integrators. Qimarox delivers a high quality product based on a standardised concept at a very competitive price. The system integrator or machine builder integrates the product into a total solution, resulting in a win-win situation for the end user and integrator.

About Qimarox

Qimarox is a leading manufacturer of rugged and reliable components for material handling systems. Innovative concepts, patented technologies and continuous development allow Qimarox (which emerged from Nedpack) to manufacture product lifts and palletisers that combine flexibility and productivity with a low total cost of ownership. System integrators and original equipment manufacturers from across the globe use the machinery of Qimarox in end-of-line systems and storage and order picking systems in various industries. Please visit www.qimarox.com for more information.

Qimarox improves accessibility of palletisers

Qimarox has increased the accessibility of its palletisers for operators and service engineers. The manufacturer of components for material handling systems has developed an innovative elevated walkway construction that makes it possible to reach both the pallet and the palletiser in a simple and safe manner to correct pallet stacks or perform maintenance. The elevated walkway system has been patented for use with the Qimarox Crossrunner system. This clever system allows multiple Highrunner palletisers to be installed in-line. The result is a compact arrangement in which only one roller conveyor is required to supply and remove all the pallets.

Because the palletising process of elevated infeed machines takes place several metres above the roller conveyor, machine accessibility can be a problem. Qimarox solved this problem by designing a system of elevated walkways that do not intersect. ‘This allows us to meet the needs of customers who rightly place high demands on the accessibility of their palletisers. Operators can now make any corrections that may be needed without having to climb, crawl or stoop. This obviously also applies to the performance of maintenance work, ‘says Pieter Hannessen, founder of Qimarox and product development manager.

Easy, safe and compact

The new elevated walkway system has two levels. The upper walkway is at the height of the pattern-formation conveyor, where the products are supplied and the pallet layers are formed and deposited. The lower walkway is at the height of the pallets and the built in lifts that deposit the pallets on the roller conveyor. Stairs are installed at various locations so operators can quickly move between walkways at any time.

The system is designed so that each pallet and palletiser unit can be accessed from several sides. Because the walkways never cross, operators at the lower level never have to bend down to restack a pallet or perform maintenance. This promotes safety and ergonomics. An additional advantage is that the shape of the walkways falls within the contours of the Crossrunner system, so that it remains the most compact arrangement for multiple palletising units on the market.

Most competitive solution

Qimarox’s Highrunner mk7 (a fast, flexible and fully modular palletiser) is a key component of the Crossrunner system. The Highrunner mk7 is the result of continuous development, which has led to an exceedingly simplified design that contains fewer parts and more standard components. Consequently, the cost of purchase, installation, use and maintenance is reduced to a minimum, which makes the Highrunner mk7 the most competitive palletising solution on the market.

Whether it’s boxes with or without lids, trays with or without foil, buckets, crates or jerrycans – the Highrunner mk7 can carefully and accurately position them into any desired pattern and deposit them on the pallet layer by layer. The user-friendly touch screen allows operators to easily select the desired stacking pattern and program new stacking patterns if necessary.

About Qimarox

Qimarox is a leading manufacturer of rugged and reliable components for material handling systems. Innovative concepts, patented technologies and continuous development allow Qimarox (which emerged from Nedpack) to manufacture product lifts and palletisers that combine flexibility and productivity with a low total cost of ownership. System integrators and original equipment manufacturers from across the globe use the machinery of Qimarox in end-of-line systems and storage and order picking systems in various industries. Please visit www.qimarox.com for more information.

Innovative palletisers and vertical transport systems at the PackExpo East 2015

Qimarox delivers speed, flexibility and durability at a competitive price

Qimarox is taking the world by storm with its wide range of palletising and vertical transport systems. Qimarox’s innovative product lifts, pallet lifts and palletisers are proof that high capacity and flexibility can go together with low operating costs and a high degree of durability. Qimarox will be present at the PackExpo East 2015

Qimarox supplies components for material handling and packaging systems that are characterised by a compact and modular design and high degree of standardisation. Consequently, the cost of purchase, installation, integration, use and maintenance is reduced to a minimum, which makes Qimarox components the most competitive solutions in the market. At the same time, the components excel not only in capacity, but also in versatility and flexibility, which makes them easy to integrate into any situation. In short, Qimarox places mechanisation and automation of packaging processes and logistics processes within everyone’s reach.

Fast and efficient palletising

Qimarox’s Highrunner mk7 is an innovative palletiser that combines the capacity of a conventional palletiser with the flexibility of a palletising robot. Whether it’s boxes with or without covers, trays with or without foil, buckets, crates or jerrycans – the Highrunner mk7 can carefully and accurately position them into any desired pattern and deposit them on the pallet layer by layer. The user-friendly touch screen allows operators to easily select the desired stacking pattern and program new stacking patterns if necessary.

The Highrunner mk7 distinguishes itself in the market with its patented pattern-formation conveyor, which is always located at the same height as the top of the pallet. This allows the layers created on the pattern-formation conveyor to be deposited at lighting speed, which makes for a particularly high capacity. A built-in pallet lift ensures that the pallet drops automatically so that the next layer can be deposited after each layer is deposited. Once a pallet is full, the lift descends to floor level, after which a roller conveyor removes the products.

Integrating multiple Highrunners according to the unique Crossrunner principle results in an extremely compact setup where a single roller conveyor is sufficient for the supply and removal of all pallets, both full and empty. This results in a setup that is able to process large volumes while occupying little space.

Vertical transport and sorting

The Prorunner mk5 is the undisputed eye-catcher at the fair. This elegant product lift works according to the time-honoured paternoster principle, which results in a versatile vertical transport system with a capacity of 2,000 products per hour. Because a single elevator system can be used for both upward and downward product flows, the Prorunner mk5 is ideal for vertical sorting. The standard model of this maintenance friendly and sophisticated product elevator is available for the fixed price of only €6,950, including infeed and outfeed conveyors and safety fencing.

Unlike other continuous product elevators, the Prorunner mk5 can feed products in and out in three directions, without the need for additional equipment. Whether it’s boxes, crates, trays or bags: this clever product elevator transports them all to any desired level and without any critical product transitions. All products are transported horizontally at all times, so that product deformations are excluded.

The Prorunner mk5 has a patented drive system that reduces friction, therefore reducing energy consumption. Because the system keeps itself in balance, the motor only has to propel the product to be transported, and not the product carrier. The system can therefore be operated at a low motor capacity, resulting in considerable savings when compared to other lift systems. Partly for these reasons, Qimarox’s Prorunner product conveyors are used by many OEMs, system integrators and manufacturers of transport systems in various industries around the world.

Robust and compact pallet lift

The Prorunner mk10 – an extremely robust product elevator for pallets of up to 2,000 kg – is the latest product in Qimarox’s range of material handling systems. This product lift can transport up to sixty pallets per hour ten metres upwards. This standardised, modular product lift can be integrated into any end-of-line packaging system or storage system and can furthermore be used in conjunction with the Highrunner mk7, Qimarox’s unique product palletiser.

The Qimarox Prorunner mk10 is based on the design of the successful Prorunner mk9 pallet lift. The most important difference is that the new Prorunner mk10 features four instead of two columns, allowing it to easily transport pallets weighing up to 2,000 kg. The Prorunner mk10 can easily bridge any difference in height between 0.40 and 10 metres. Even at the maximum height difference of 10 metres, the lift can still easily transport sixty pallets per hour with ease. The Prorunner mk10 is equipped with a lifting platform of 1200 x 1200 mm as standard, so that it can handle not only euro pallets, but also product carriers of different sizes such as block pallets.

Thanks to its four-column construction, pallets can be fed in and out on four different sides. It is also possible to use a single machine to supply multiple infeed or outfeed conveyors, so that the lift can also be used for, for example, vertical sorting. Because the lift is constructed out of standard sections, its height can be increased in 250 mm increments. The Prorunner mk10 is constructed using steel instead of aluminium columns, which ensures great stability despite the dynamic forces that occur during operation. Lifting is silent in the Prorunner mk10 because it is taken care of by steel cables in a durable plastic case. Furthermore, unlike when using chains, the steel cables don’t require lubricating or tightening.

More information? Visit our stand

Want to learn more about our products? Visit us at the PackExpo East 2015. We would love to show you what makes our palletisers and vertical transport systems so unique. You can also learn more about our other products, such as our Securyfence screening system. For more information, please visit our website at www.qimarox.com.

Qimarox opens new test and demonstration centre in Harderwijk

Qimarox opens a completely renewed test and demonstration centre in Harderwijk. New or potential customers can experience the opportunities offered by Qimarox for vertical transport and/or palletising of their products first-hand after the opening this autumn. For this purpose, a fully operational palletising and vertical transport and sorting system will be installed in the test and demonstration centre.

Qimarox has always already offered the opportunity to test, but these capabilities are greatly enhanced now the premises at the Nobelstraat in Harderwijk has been converted and expanded. The test and demonstration centre will soon contain a fully operational Prorunner mk9, the successful machine that is not only being used as a vertical transport system, but also as a vertical sorting system across the globe. Furthermore, all manner of systems for the infeed and outfeed of products are available for testing, so companies can test what is the most appropriate configuration using their own products.

Palletising tests

In addition to the Prorunner mk9, starting next autumn, the other product elevators of Qimarox will also be on display. A new, further developed palletising system will also be available for testing the possibilities of palletising and stacking different products according to certain patterns. New and potential customers can see for themselves how accurately their products are positioned on the patented pattern-formation conveyor of this machine and that this machine can handle more stacking patterns than any other palletiser.

Remote testing

Because Qimarox’s components are installed and integrated all over the world, of course not every customer will have the opportunity of travelling to Harderwijk. In that case, the test can be captured on video, so that they can see the result anyway. Another option is to watch via the webcam that has been installed in the test and demonstration centre.

Training and education

The renovation of the property followed after the division of Qimarox and Nedpack late last year. Apart from an extensive test and demonstration centre, Qimarox will soon also be provided with a modern education and training space. Certified system partners will periodically be trained to install and integrate Qimarox components here, while customers can follow training in the use and maintenance of the systems. Anyone who is interested in visiting the test and demonstration centre can make an appointment without any further obligations.

About Qimarox

Qimarox is a leading manufacturer of components for material handling systems that are characterised by robustness and reliability. Innovative concepts, patented technologies and continuous development allow Qimarox (which emerged from Nedpack) to manufacture product elevators and palletisers that link flexibility and productivity to a low total cost of ownership. System integrators and original equipment manufacturers from across the globe use the machinery of Qimarox in end-of-line systems and storage and order picking systems in various industries. Please visit www.qimarox.com for more information.