For accurate, flexible and efficient logistical results, today glass production plants rely on high-performance handling machinery, increasingly orienting towards more intelligent, connected and autonomous systems.
With its bespoke handling solutions, ITALCARRELLI® supplies the most important float glass producers and processors all over the world. International customers in continuous growth and change and therefore always attentive to the most modern cutting-edge technological equipment.
In recent years, the Glass Division and the company's R&D department have constantly focused on product innovation, studying increasingly performing handling solutions and making important investments in automation, development of autonomous driving vehicles (AGV) and related services.
In the glass industry ITALCARRELLI S.p.a. mainly supplies machines based on LGV (Laser Guided Vehicles) technology.
The LGV consists in triangulating the position of the machine by means of a laser scanner that monitors its position with respect to the fixed reflectors installed in the warehouse. This guiding system guarantees excellent precision, does not require special installations on the systems and the paths are easily modified.
Continuing to revolutionize float glassware logistics, these are the latest systems that engineers have ITALCARRELLI S.p.a. have developed for the series of PTN LGV inloaders, which operate without operators on board: the BES, the RDS and RIS.
The BES (Battery Exchange Station) system allows automatic recharging and replacement of the battery on board the LGV inloaders. Thanks to it, the battery once discharged can be replaced automatically without the intervention of any operator. The LGV transporter, when the battery is flat, will automatically move to the BES to replace it with a charged one and the whole operation will take about 4 min. Thanks to the BES, ITALCARRELLI S.p.a. has significantly increased the operation of its LGV machines, as long stops are no longer necessary to recharge the batteries. The BES station is also available for standard ride-on machines.
RDS, acronym for Rack Detecting System, is an innovative tracking system that allows you to keep track of all information about the load - i.e. presence of the load, an estimate of the width of the glass, number of packages, position on the stand, type of kickstand - for safer handling. It can be installed both on AGVs and on manually guided machines, to help the operator in his maneuvering operations. There are various electronic sensors that are positioned on the inloader to provide all the data: encoders, photocells and ultrasonic sensors. Thanks to RDS, the system not only detects the presence of the stand, but also initiates an automatic slowdown of the machine and stops it to prevent it from hitting the stand during loading.
In addition, the machine can also be equipped with RIS (Rack Identification System) which allows you to scan a barcode or read an RFID tag with information on the stands and automatically communicate them to the warehouse management software or ERP, so it is possible to know in any time the exact position of glass and tripod.
Italcarrelli paves the way for new generation and increasingly technologically advanced machinery and accessory technologies for handling float glass. With the highest standards of safety, quality and continuous developments in robotics, software and services, it aims to provide an ever greater customization of the machine and its features.
