Upgrades for your CARICAMAT^® automatic truck loader

The CARICAMAT® head moves on three axis and lifts heavy bags at rates up to 3000 bags per hour. Over time, it is subject to wear and tear, and if not properly maintained it can lose performance and even become unsafe. While it is possible to replace parts of the CARICAMAT® head with spares, patchy repair work can result in more downtime and higher costs over the long-term. By contrast, replacing the CARICAMAT® head in its entirety ensures high quality across the piece, plus only one pause in production, which reduces the overall cost. The head replacement includes suction cup support, head support, pantograph, head carriage and head column. If you’re replacing the complete CARICAMAT® head, you can also add a new component to enable a greater range of movement.

The stress placed on the CARICAMAT® by the high speeds at which it operates can cause damage to the main frame and lifting head. To reduce this stress, we are offering an optional improved hydraulic control, which can be easily retrofitted to existing machines. The kit consists of: • A hydraulic part for handling movements • A mechanical part for feedback control of movements • An electrical part • New software with the corresponding IPC control unit Adding the hydraulic kit helps to minimise shocks and vibrations by optimising speed changes and by improving the control of movement on both transverse and longitudinal strokes. The result is less stress on all involved parts – which reduces wear and tear – as well as reduced stress on all machine frames. With this relatively minor addition, you can significantly reduce the risk of cracks or breakage.

The vacuum operation is integral to the success and safety of the CARICAMAT® solution. Quite simply, the CARICAMAT® cannot operate without it. If the vacuum unit goes down, the dispatch operation is disrupted, leading to bottlenecks across the process. Seeking to avoid unscheduled downtime and improve overall performance and efficiency, we offer two upgrades to the CARICAMAT® vacuum unit: • Wet to dry - the replacement of the liquid ring vacuum unit with a dry system. • Dry vacuum upgrade – increasing the pump size to increase performance. Wet vacuum units have complex operational and maintenance needs. The water level, pressure and temperature must be kept stable for the vacuum to work efficiently. Meanwhile, the space required for water storage is significant. Plus, in areas where water is not abundantly available, water transport is also essential and can be very expensive. All of these issues can be avoided by switching over to a dry vacuum process. Dry vacuum units benefit from greater reliability and easier maintenance as there are fewer parts. The elimination of water also significantly reduces the footprint of the system and of course there are no longer concerns about water consumption, water transport or water quality. Older dry vacuum systems may use multiple small pumps, all running at maximum capacity to achieve the necessary performance. Replacing many small pumps with larger pumps not only increases the system performance but also its efficiency. With higher efficiency, there is also less to go wrong – which means maintenance is reduced. Moreover, because the system no longer must run at maximum speed, the wear on motors is reduced, and life cycle is improved. Included in both upgrades, there is a new electric panel board that connects the rotary blowers and dedusting filters. There is a dedicated HMI operator panel to enable optimisation of the vacuum system separate from the CARICAMAT® control.