FIFO BUFFER ICB

The ICB is a FI-FO (First In – First Out) type buffer and is therefore suitable for products that cannot be kept for long periods inside it.

Its main characteristic is that it exploits space in a horizontal direction, unlike similar buffers that exploit space in a vertical direction.

This consists of four main sections:

a product infeed zone a product outfeed zone a full gondolas storage area an empty gondolas storage area

Gondolas are rectangular anodized aluminium structures that can hold up to 15 trays.

The width of the gondolas depends directly on the length of the product to be stored.

In the infeed zone, each products row is launched onto the tray of the gondola which moves in front of it. As soon as the row is on the tray the gondola shifts all the trays up a step (a step is exactly the distance between two trays), so an empty tray is ready to receive the next products row.

What distinguishes this patented loading system from the one of other gondolas buffer systems, is that the step between the last tray in a gondola and the first tray in the next gondola is the same as the step between trays in the same gondola.

This means that the products row loading speed does not have to be changed when shifting from a full gondola to the next empty one. Buffer systems manufactured by other companies do not offer this advantage.

The full gondola transport-storage area consists of two special horizontal drive chains that move at a constant speed and on which the gondolas supports can slide if stopped or move at the same speed as they are left free.

The empty gondola storage area is very similar to the full gondola area and is fitted with exactly the same kind of drive chain.

The two areas described above are connected to the gondola upstroke and down stroke zones. Each of these are made up of four drive chains motorised in pairs by two separate servo-motors.

The two separate drive units enable the gondolas to be operated as described above, i.e. the steps between the gondolas are the same as the steps between trays in the same gondola.

The outfeed zone includes a pusher that pushes the row of products onto the outfeed belt when the gondolas stops. This belt can be either transversal or longitudinal depending on the type of feed you wish to obtain after the buffer.

The buffer also comes in an alternative version with two synchronised pushers at outfeed, offering a loading capacity of between 40 and 80 products rows per min.

One of the advantages of this kind of buffer is that the gondolas can be removed very easily when they need to be cleaned, replaced or given their regular sterilisation-wash, for example when the type of product is changed.

Patents: EP 1608573 (B1) US 7201270 (B2)