Rockwell Automation Arena Packaging Users Guide - Manual (Page 38)

A RENA P ACKAGING T EMPLATE U SER ’ S G UIDE
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R EMARKS
Palletizers and depalletizers are always connected to Conveyor modules.
If the Palletizer Type is Palletizer, then units accumulate in front of the Palletizer and are
removed at a maximum rate of approximately (Units/Layer)*(Nom. Run Speed) units/min
(assuming speed factor of 1) off the conveyor and stored in the storage area (a pallet at a
time) until the maximum capacity of the storage area is reached.
Run parameters include the number of units per layer and the number of layers per pallet.
The Time Between Layers is the setup time before the next layer can be filled, and the
Time Between Pallets is the setup time before the first layer of a pallet can be filled. The
palletizer cannot remove units from the upstream conveyor during these delays. Note that
filling, time between layers, and time between pallet operations are halted if the speed
factor of the palletizer is set to zero (e.g., due to a failure, scheduled stop, or changeover).
There is no module exit label if the Palletizer Type is Palletizer unless one or more
discrete entity options are enabled.
A Palletizer may be initially active or inactive, depending on what is specified in the Run
Options dialog box.
Storage capacity is assumed to be infinite unless a Storage module specifies a limit.
If the Palletizer Type is Depalletizer, then units are introduced from the Palletizer into the
accumulation conveyor (or Machine Link) at the rate of approximately (Units/Layer) *
(Nom. Run Speed) units/min (assuming speed factor of 1), unless the Palletizer is shut
down or there is no inventory in the storage area. The run parameters of the Depalletizer
are similar to the Palletizer, with the difference being that units are getting introduced
back into the system from storage rather than being removed.
There is no module entry label if the Palletizer Type is Depalletizer.
A Depalletizer initially may be active or inactive, depending on what is specified in the
Run Options dialog box.
The inventory in Storage Name may also be incremented or decremented (by pallets)
independent of the palletizer’s operation via the Actions dialog box or Actions module.
Refer to the Actions dialog box description for more information.
Refer to the Controls, Loss, Reliability, Run Options, and Scheduled Stops dialog boxes
for more information on these options.
Both types of palletizers interface between discrete operations and non-discrete, high-
speed unit flow. Because each discrete operation causes system updates, use of a palletizer
with many discrete operations can slow the execution speed of the entire model. Often the
internal workings of a palletizer are not important to the system being modeled. If this is
the case, model execution speed can be improved dramatically by reducing the discrete