Utveckling av hjälpmedel till palleteringsprocess

Sammanfattning: This thesis is aimed at improving a palletizing process. At present, the packaged cartons are loaded on pallets by hand and with a forklift as lifting aid. The process include several dangers for the operators, such as bad ergonomics and safety hazards. The dangers come from the fact that the packages weigh 70 kilograms, while also being stacked two meters above the floor. The goal is to develop a tool so that the palletizing process can be carried out with greater efficiency while at the same time improving ergonomics and safety for the operators. Risk assessments of the existing process were carried out, then a product development process where concept ideas were generated with a morphological matrix. To early focus the product development process towards ergonomics and to a large extent base the concept choice on the operator's ergonomics the REBA method was implemented. This resulted in a lifting device mounted in an overhead crane provided with motor-controlled claws for holding the carton, motor-controlled tipping device for tipping the carton and a hinged handle so that the operator can operate the lifting device ergonomically. By incorporating REBA into the product development work, a credible examination of the ergonomics could be carried out, where the difficulty was to investigate the angles between different body parts. The hinged handle provides a grip so that the operator can handle the lifting device at ergonomic height while the safety also is improved since the lifting device can be controlled from a distance. The efficiency of the palletizing process has been improved since the forklift is eliminated from the process. Previously, it was required additional personnel was called in to operate the forklift truck while the new solution only requires one operator throughout the whole process.