28 n VARIABLE-SPEED DRIVES January 2026 www.drivesncontrols.com Bottles are sorted automatically using ‘future-proof’ drives Deutsche Getränkelogistik (DGL) is a major player in the German beverage logistics market. It uses more than 375 trucks to ensure smooth deliveries of crates of bottles to supermarkets, beverage retailers as well as beverage manufacturers and bottlers. DGL uses machines from the machinebuilder König Maschinenbau across its operations. For more than 30 years, König has been designing and implementing customised sorting and transport systems, palletising applications, and packing machines for the beverage and logistics sectors. When German consumers return empty bottles via reverse vending machines located in supermarkets, the bottles are placed in crates that are stacked unsorted on a pallet. The result is a hodge-podge of different crates and bottles from different manufacturers. Before the empties can be returned to the suppliers, they must be sorted. This intermediate step in the recycling process is carried out using DGL sorting systems. At its site in Bad Oeynhausen in North Rhine-Westphalia, DGL has one of Europe’s most efficient automated systems for sorting crates of empty bottles. It was designed and built by König. Thanks to their long-established cooperation, the project was completed quickly and smoothly and was up and running in a few months. Since then, the system has been running reliably, without any failures. The constantly increasing variety of new beverages, and therefore container sizes, makes sorting empties a complex task. This is done automatically. First, the unsorted pallets run along a roller conveyor for processing. A robot then unloads the pallets and places the crates on an infeed. The crates then travel through the system automatically. They are first separated and an image-processing system scans them to recognise their type and the manufacturer. The crates are then moved into appropriate buffer lines using hydraulically operated pushers. The system can sort around 3,600 crates every hour. In the low season, it operates two shifts and thus has sufficient reserve capacity for the hot summer months when the volume of empties multiplies, and the system needs to operate four or five shifts. In the past, König relied on Danfoss VLT FC 302 Automation Drives for its machines, but for the new crate sorter, it opted for Danfoss’ new-generation drive: the iC7-Automation, which is backwards-compatible with the FC 302. For example, they share the same mounting plates. It has installed a total of 133 iC7-Automation drives with power ratings from 0.55–3kW in the DGL sorter system. To ensure future-proof communications, König chose Ethernet-based fieldbuses. The new drives are based on a modular concept that allows more customisation. And, with more internal sensors, they offer improved control accuracy, in either open- or closed-loop operation. The drives also offer significantly more intelligence thanks to their more powerful processors and expanded memory. A crypto chip integrated into the drive ensures secure communications, both within the system and when accessing the drive – including via the Internet. The new drives also have more slots for expansion modules, so can adapt to new demands now and in the future. The “future-proof”drive has been designed to be flexible enough to follow new trends and technologies as they emerge. Thanks to the close cooperation between the three companies, the sorting system was designed, planned and built in four months. The result is said to be one of the most efficient crate sorting systems in Germany. It is capable of sorting 3,600 crates per hour. This allows DGL to offer its customers enhanced services, including empties management. n In Germany, consumers can return empty drinks bottles via reverse vending machines located in supermarkets. The service is quick and convenient, but results in a variety of crates containing different bottles from different suppliers. An automated sorting machine using advanced VSDs is helping to recycle the returns efficiently. The DGL bottle-sorting system has more than 100 drives with ratings from 0.55-3kW
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