Imagine you want to present something truly special to your guests at the next barbecue: perhaps kangaroo meat from Australia. To ensure it arrives fresh on your grill, it first needs to be frozen in Australia. And you'll be amazed: during the freezing process, the Linear Chain from GROB Antriebstechnik GmbH plays a crucial role.
Space-Saving Linear Chain
Whenever space is tight and loads need to be moved safely and precisely, the Linear Chain is indispensable. A typical example is the plate freezers at the New Zealand manufacturer of innovative cooling technology. In this specific application, meat and other food products are packaged and transported in a partially automated system.
At the end of the process, they're deep-frozen. This is where the Linear Chain comes into play, pushing the cardboard boxes (contents: meat) onto the plate rack. There, they're deep-frozen within 24 hours. You can see exactly how this works in this video.
From minute 1:04, you can see the Linear Chain moving the packaged meat onto the plate freezer.
Unusual Conditions
That's an understatement. When foods like meat, poultry, fish, or cheese are deep-frozen, the temperatures are very low – specifically below the freezing point, at about -42°C (-44°F). For the Linear Chain, this is no issue; it can perform satisfactorily even at lower temperatures.
The Linear Chain pushes the load onto the storage plate
Which type of Linear Chain was used?
In this case, we utilized the SK18 with a maximum thrust force of 18,000 N. The distinct advantage of the Linear Chain is undoubtedly its capability to achieve very long strokes, especially in confined spaces. It can be installed both vertically and horizontally, enabling highly precise positioning.