Durable, low-maintenance gearbox solution and energy supply systems in an ice cream vending machine

• What was needed: economical and flexible automation solution for ice dispensing
• Requirements: fast ROI, reduced maintenance intervals, long service life, low error rate
• Material: Apiro® modular gearbox system, e-chain® E2, chainflex® cable
• Industry: vending machinery

Standing at the ice cream machine with friends in summer, collecting the right coins and by the time the last ice cream has been dispensed, the first one has already melted. With the sec°mat IC One, everything is different: the ice cream machine with interactive touch display offers a shopping cart function for the first time: the user puts together their desired ice cream creations, makes a quick contactless payment and receives the order for the entire group of friends in one go. The inner workings of the vending machine can be observed through a transparent pane - this takes the boredom out of waiting.

The challenge was to find a cost-effective, flexible, durable and maintenance-free robot kinematics system that people would enjoy watching at work. The developers had initially considered a Scara robot. "However, it quickly became apparent that the error rate would be quite high over time if this setup was not located in a factory and could be constantly maintained", recalls Frank Kuhn, CEO of Seco Manufaktur. "However, reduced maintenance intervals and a long service life were particularly important to us."

igus® experts were involved in the development process and together they found the perfect solution with the modular drygear® Apiro® gearbox kit. The focus here is on tribologically optimised worm gears. The corrosion-free and chemical-resistant high-performance plastics ensure high stability, low weight, durability and freedom from maintenance. The joints are connected via a multifunctional aluminium profile. It allows the drive shaft to be guided through a hollow space in the centre, which makes use of the inverted worm gear. The continuous aluminium profile rotates through the gearbox, making it ideal for robotic and rotary applications. With the worm gearbox with linear movement, the aluminium profile can move linearly through the gearbox or the gearbox moves on the linear profile. All worm gearboxes have particularly low backlash. In addition to the 3-axis gantry, two E2 series energy chains and chainflex® cables are used in the final complete system in the sec°mat. "It is not only technically optimised, but also visually", says Kuhn. "After all, the iron removal takes place in the visible area, so we didn't want a cool industrial solution. Instead, we wanted it to be a visually appealing system and make the user curious."