In late March, Robatech presented ‘Vision’, its new energy-efficient adhesive melter for high-quality adhesive application, in an online world premiere. The Swiss manufacturer developed a smart melter on a completely new platform with a space-saving design and innovative features for safe product gluing and cost-efficient operation.
“Vision is a completely new adhesive melter that opens up a new dimension in gluing,” explained Martin Spalinger, Director Strategic Marketing & Innovation.
‘Vision’ gently melts even demanding thermoplastic hot-melt adhesives, maintains a constant adhesive viscosity, and conveys hotmelt at a consistent pressure to the application head. This increases the reliability in high-precision adhesive applications, which is particularly needed when gluing primary packaging. Compared to the predecessor model ‘Concept’, ‘Vision’ requires 20% less energy.
With the Smart Terminal, Robatech introduces an additional feature to the melter market. Current operating and status information is displayed in changing colours via an LED strip on the device. Even from a distance, the operating personnel can recognise whether the gluing process is running smoothly or whether, for example, the adhesive needs to be refilled. Displays of the current pump pressure, status codes, and four function keys facilitate operation and rapid intervention.
The company says that ‘Vision’ offers machine manufacturers many options. The melter can be installed lengthwise or crosswise: it is operated remotely or via the optional Touch Display, which is mounted at the front or side. The innovative 45-degree FlexPort connection surface allows heated hoses to be connected at different angles to save space. This gives customers the flexibility to position vision at the shortest possible distance from the application heads, keeping the heated hose length short. Besides that, the Robatech Control System offers open interfaces and standardised Fieldbus protocols for easy integration into complete systems.
The company also confirmed another new product, ‘Performa’. The new heated hose is suitable for viscosities from 100 to 20,000 mPas. The company claims it requires up to 45% less energy than conventional heated hoses, such as Robatech’s ‘Enduro’. With the development of the PrimeConnect plug coupling, Robatech has achieved several goals at once; customers can connect ‘Performa’ via plug-and-play quickly and error-free without special tools. Also, the adhesive viscosity remains constant even at the connection points to the melter and application head. PrimeConnect is fully insulated and eliminates the usual thermal bridges.
Robatech also fulfils the promise of high backward compatibility with its latest products. ‘Vision’ is compatible with heated hoses and application heads built in 2000 and later. ‘Performa’ can be used with ‘Concept’ series melters in combination with ‘Enduro’ heated hoses. Customers can gradually retrofit their existing equipment with energy-efficient system components and optimise adhesive application quality.
