A new installation, designed and manufactured by AUTOMATISMOS ARAIPIASA, S.L., automates the handling and loading of ceramic products at the dryer exit at Ladrillera Altavista's production plant in Colombia.
The line integrates various conveying, alignment, and grouping systems that organize the ceramic products and prepare the layers for subsequent handling. The installation also includes the equipment required to coordinate layer formation and the movement of the kiln cars.
The installation is designed to handle a wide range of ceramic products, including farol hollow bricks, smooth and grooved coco bricks, catalán bricks, bloquelón hollow clay blocks, and tolete bricks. The automated control system adapts the line's operation to the specific characteristics of each product and its corresponding loading configuration.
Stacking is carried out by a robot equipped with a pneumatic gripper adapted to the ceramic products. Once the layers have been formed, the robot picks them up and places them in an organized manner onto the kiln cars according to the selected product format, operating in coordination with the other equipment in the line.
The entire process is managed by an automated control system that synchronizes the movements of the equipment and allows its operation to be monitored. This ensures that the ceramic products move from the dryer exit to the loading area in a continuous and controlled flow.
This solution eliminates manual handling of ceramic products during this stage of the process, allowing unloading and stacking operations to be carried out more continuously, efficiently, and safely. Automation also helps increase production capacity, improve product quality, and reduce waste generated during handling.