Machinery Update - July-August

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Issue 4, Volume XVIII. July/August 2007

DISPLAY OVERWRAPPING

The shrink orfold decision CONVEYORS

Compact elevatorsaves space

CODING AND MARKING

Laser costscome down

The only ‘machinery only’ journal for processing and packaging

Forthcoming events. 47

F E A T U R E S

12 Total show report 1 First report on new machineryseen at the Total Processing &Packaging show in May.

19 Coding and marking Laser costs come down as inkjet finds its level: Reports on current developments in print-applylabelling, ink jet printing, laser marking and on-line codingequipment.

30 Conveyors andmechanical handlingNews on the latest conveyorsystems, feeders and producthandling equipment.

37 Display overwrappingShrink or fold? Material costsand product shape can helpsway the decision betweendifferent approaches to displayoverwrapping.

M A C H I N E R Y U P D A T E • J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 0 7 3

Editor: Michael Maddox

Production Manager: Bill Lake

Production: Miriam Naisbett

ISSN 0969-4145A PPMA Publication. PPMA Ltd,New Progress House, 34 Stafford Road,Wallington, Surrey SM6 9AATel: 020 8773 8111 Fax: 020 8773 0022E-mail addresses: [email protected]

[email protected]@ppma.co.uk

Web site: www.ppma.co.uk

Applications for free copies of Machinery

Update are considered from specifiers,managers and purchasers of processing andpackaging machinery in the UK. Annualsubscription £35 (UK), £50 (ContinentalEurope), £65 (rest of world).

The Processing and Packaging MachineryAssociation assumes no responsibility for thestatements or opinions, whether attributedor otherwise, in Machinery Update.

Typeset and printed by: Manor Creative,7-8 Edison Road, Highfield Industrial Estate,Hampden Park, Eastbourne BN23 6PT.Tel: 01323 514400.

Scribing lasers from Linx are coding

tea cartons for export. 19

T H E J O U R N A L O F T H E P P M A

Guttridge cocoa powder handling

system for Cadbury. 30

CDs are a principal market for the

Beck Multiplex shrinkwrapper. 37

R E G U L A R F E A T U R E S

6 News and people PPMA autumn seminar programme: Larger premises for tray ffsand sealer specialist: Orders and installations: Appointments.

8 Machinery in action Puck-loading robot gives one-year payback: Cartoner links toseed sachet filler: Stretchwrap protects stairs.

41 Component matters Total show report: Components on show helped identify imminentand medium term trends in machine building.

43 LabellingWeigh price labeller for bulk containers: Motion control upgradeimproves applicator flexibility: Servo driven entry-level labeller.

44 New machineryTablet feeder handles multi-product blisters: Upgraded biscuitforming range: X-ray machine checks weight: Bar code verifier.

C L A S S I F I E D

45 Machinery and services

B U Y E R S ’ G U I D E S

46 Ancillary equipment 48 Processing equipment50 Packaging machinery

CONTENTSI S S U E 4 , V O LU M E X V I I I . J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 0 7

P R O C E S S I N GS P O T L I G H T

Machinery in action: Belt scalemonitors raw materials. 17

Total show report: Fluid bedcoater scales up accuratelyfrom 1 to 800 litres. 14

New machinery: Upgradedbiscuit forming range: Solidstate system measures CO2 inbeverages. 44

Diary Dates sponsored by

The Regional Industry Series

P P M A M A T T E R S

Boosting UK skillsThe fact that there is a skills shortage

amongst mechanical engineering firmsin the UK should be sending out warningsignals way beyond the 13,000 or socompanies involved directly in this sector ofindustry and into every organisation thatdepends, ultimately on productionmachinery.

This is why the recommendations of theLeitch Review of Skills and its call for acompelling new vision should be welcomednot only by machinery builders andsuppliers but also by every organisation (beit in food, pharmaceuticals, beverages orbuilding materials manufacture), thatcannot exist without the skills that keepmachines running.

However, while the report calls for action on a broad front from basicskills through to graduate level, the real challenge appears to be in therecommendation that the number of apprentices in the UK be boosted to500,000 each year by 2020.

As the Engineering and Machinery Alliance, which speaks for thePPMA and eight other associations, pointed out recently to the Trade andIndustry Select Committee, apprenticeships could become much moreattractive if put on a similar footing to academic studies, possibly withstudent loans and tax relief on earnings while apprentices go throughtheir three-year course.

“Many of the senior positions in our company are held by formerapprentices,” wrote the chairman of a 300-employee machinery builder.“The problem is that we can only afford to pay them £7000 a year whilethey are doing their apprenticeship and they can earn £12,000 at thelocal supermarket. As a result, quite often around the third year we findapprentices dropping out of the programme.”

The problem for the engineering industry is, of course, very much itsSME composition. Even so, it is important to recognise that whileindividual companies may tend to be on the small to medium side, theirsignificance to the national economy is substantial.

Every year the 13,000 firms in the UK mechanical engineeringindustry regularly achieve a positive annual trade balance of over £5billion; the same most years as the 3000-strong UK chemical industry inwhich individual organisations are considerably larger.

So a strong skills base is essential and, while it may seem to be truethat the industry has turned its back on apprenticeships it takes littlescratching, points out EAMA, to uncover support for the concept, even infirms that have dropped them. “They are generally seen as the best wayto bring on young people and develop them into skilled, well motivatedemployees.”

The new Training Councils, with grants towards training for groupswithin an industry rather than individual companies, offer a particularlypromising route for the smaller SMEs.

But while in some cases the cost of running apprenticeship schemesmay encourage smaller SMEs to feed off the training schemes run by thelarger companies, the irony can sometimes be that larger manufacturingcompanies feed off smaller, machinery manufacturers. Where do manyshift fitters come from?

So support for the Leitch recommendations and, most important, forfunding mechanisms that will make it all happen is just as important tothe customers of the processing and packaging machinery industry asthey are to the machine builders themselves.

Chris BuxtonChief Executive, PPMA

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N E W S A N D P E O P L E

M A C H I N E R Y U P D A T E • J U LY / A U G U S T 2 0 0 76

TRAINING

PPMA training programmelooks to safety legislation The 2007 PPMA seminar andtraining programme – held inassociation with MTA and Picon –will resume after the summerbreak with three courses onmachinery safety and electricalequipment legislation.

Provision and Use of WorkEquipment Regulations (11 Oct-ober): This course will help anyonewho is responsible for thepurchase, use, maintenance ormodification of work equipment togain a thorough understanding oftheir responsibilities under thislegislation and what it does anddoes not cover.

New ElectromagneticCompatibility Directive (22 Nov-ember): Compared with the

current directive, the new EMCDirective contains significantdepartures that will haveparticular impact on companiesthat combine items of equipmentto make fixed installations.

It now applies to componentsand sub-assemblies as well aselectrical apparatus. Proceduresfor claiming conformity to theDirective have changed, as havethe requirements for what wasonce called the technicalconstruction file.

Functional safety of controlsystems (22 November): Thefunctional safety of control systemsis one of the most contentioussubjects in CE marking with fiercedebates on the relative importance

of circuit architecture, selection ofcomponents and the safetyintegrity of components andsystems.

This seminar will discuss therelative merits and likely uses ofthe different standards and providepractical examples of how they canbe applied to conventional hard-wired safety circuits and tosoftware synchronised machinesand machines that use safety bussystems, safety PLCs and safetycritical software.

For full details of PPMA 2007training courses and seminars,including discounts for multiplebookings, contact Emma Corneyat the PPMA, T: 020 8773 8111,E: [email protected]

TNA announceslargest sale incompany’s 25-year history TNA has announced the largestever single sale in the company’s25-year history. South Americansnack food manufacturerProductos Alimenticios Diana, SanSalvador, is to take delivery of 52Robag 3tx 180 rotary single jawbaggers fed by 26 TNA Delta 516weighers, doubling its baggingcapacity. Installation is expectedto be completed in August 2007.

Kliklok Woodman has suppliedDairy Crest, Dagenham, with aTL8 milk trolley loader, a duplexversion of the TL5 machine whichuses two completely independenttrolley handling stations.According to Kliklok the new TL8is the fastest trolley loader on themarket and can run at speeds up to230 x 2 litre bottles a minute.

Shrinkwrap Machinery Co hasbuilt five bespoke shrink-wrappingmachines for packaging materialsmanufacturer Huhtamaki(Lurgan), Northern Ireland, tohandle moulded fibre egg cartonsin packs up to1 metre long. Thefour 1100mm and one 900mmwide side entry machines areequipped with side seal units toprovide an enclosed pack.

Aetna UK has delivered asecond Robopac Spiror horizontalstretchwrapper to aluminiumprofile processor Vertik-Al. TheSpiror 400HP machine is able tohandle bundles 25-300mm wideand 20-200mm tall withoutadjustment and will wrap lengthsfrom 800mm upwards.

Glenvale Packaging has supplieda food supplement manufacturer inthe North of England with aSejong Pharmatech GRC-15Stablet press. The 15-stationmachine is running D tooling andfeatures a pre-compression of

2 tonnes and main compression upto 7 tonnes.

Newman Labelling Systems hasdelivered a CTE 350 compactpressure-sensitive labeller to Rochein Montevideo, Uruguay, toautomate a carton labellingoperation. It runs at speeds up to350 cartons a minute and canapply a wide range of tamper-evident, anti-counterfeit andhologram labels.

Baker Perkins is to supplyWarburtons with mixing andforming equipment for an extrahigh output bread plant at itsTuscany Park bakery, Wakefield.

COMPANY NEWS

Elau appointsUK roboticssystemsintegratorProcess automation and industrialrobotics specialist Barr & Paatz ofTotnes, Devon, has been appointedUK systems integrator by Elau,supplier of the UltraPicker Deltafour-axis robot and the PacDrivemotion/logic control system, whichis able to control both robot andhost packaging machine.

“The Delta configuration andcontrol features enable a typicalproduction line to be ‘squeezed’dimensionally in three directions,reducing the installationfootprint,” explains Elau’s MikeClarke.

“The UltraPicker’s smallerphysical size means less overheadclearance above the conveyor, theno-clash shared workingenvironment allows them to beinstalled much closer together andthe high picking rate makes itviable to reduce the number ofrobots working on a line.”

Fortress Technology (Europe)has obtained certification of itsPhantom metal detector to IP69K,the highest level of resistance tohigh pressure jet washing, and acomplete seal against dust. Testsincluded subjecting the machine toan 80deg C steam hose at variousangles and pressures up to 100bar.

Spectrum Inspection Systemshas set up a rental service for itsLoma and Cintex equipment,including checkweighers, X-rayand metal detection systems.

Under test: Phantom metal detector

Newman Labelling: CTE 350 labeller

ORDERS AND INSTALLATIONS


MECAPLASTIC UK

Tray sealing andffs specialistmoves intolarger premisesMecaplastic, the French traysealer and thermoform-fill-sealmachine manufacturer, hasmoved its UK operation intoenlarged premises at Nuneatonand, earlier this year, staged ademonstration of its latestmachinery, including the fastchange Multiform concept and ahigh speed tray sealer capable ofspeeds up to 144 a minute.

The new premises also operateas a UK warehouse for trays madeby NutriPack, Mecaplastic’s sistercompany within the Propastgroup.

Aimed principally at short runsof trayed goods including readymeals, salads, meat and poultry,the Mecaplastic Multiform traysealer was demonstratedchanging from one tray size toanother in under 2 minutes.

This is achieved using simpledrop-in base tooling and auniversal heated top platen thatrequires no sizeparts or cuttingdies. Instead, the machineemploys a knife to trim the film incross-web direction and a seriesof cutters to make the edge trim,allowing a single width film reelto serve a number of differenttray dimensions if necessary.

Film advance and othermachine functions areprogrammable and can be storedin memory.

Should packs be run more thanone-up, then perforators areemployed in web direction so thatthe two or three packs can bereadily separated by hand. Sinceonly one row of trays is completedon each cycle, the base tool canbe made reversible, saving costsby having two rows toaccommodate different trayshapes or sizes.

The Multiform S2000 runstypically at 11 cycles a minute

and can be equipped for vacuumpacking and MAP to give eightcycles a minute.

Also on demonstration was theMecaplastic S3000 multi-lanetray sealer, shown equipped withthe company’s Partial Toolingsystem in which a quarter turn,quick release locking systemsecures the seal plate and bladecutters to the heated platen whichremains in place on the machine.

As a result, changeover times of5 minutes are possible, using aspecial lift plate to remove hottools, while overall cost for anumber of tools is lower, sincethere is only one heater.

Mecaplastics’ high speed traysealer is the S6000 which uses alane diverter at the infeed to directa single lane of trays into as manyas six lanes for a complete row tobe sealed simultaneously by across-web tool.

Trays are carried into themachine on a polychain conveyorthen transferred and pitched by anoverhead pusher into an indexingflight bar system that carries themthrough the sealing operation.

Flight bar acceleration anddeceleration can be programmedto suit the contents of the tray, inparticular to avoid sauces andother liquids slopping onto the sealarea.

After sealing, trays areconverged using a series of paddlegates on each lane to emerge insingle file.

The principal advantage ofsealing trays in rows rather thanin-line is speed. Mecaplasticpoints out that since only a singletray length is involved in eachindex, rather than probably fourtray lengths on an in-linemachine, there is less dead timebetween each cycle, allowing upto 16 cycles a minute orpotentially 96 trays a minute.

However, a second sealing headcan be added to the S6000which, although reducing cycletime to a maximum of 12 aminute because of the longerindex, still allows up to 144 traysa minute to be handled.

A trolley system is used tobring the new tooling to themachine and receive the previoustools while a tooling pre-heatingsystem is available to reducestart-up time.

Mecaplastic’s entry level traysealer is the drawer-style S1000.Tools are transferable to thefaster S2000 and S3000machines should productionlevels demand while all machinescan be equipped with vacuum andgassing facilities.

In addition, points outMecaplastic the three machinesare also capable of producingskin packaging at much lowercapital cost than thethermoformers traditionallyemployed in the process.T: 02476 351300E:[email protected]

Multi-lane tray sealing: Mecaplastic S6000 runs at speeds over 140 a minute

PEOPLE

Autobox namesBarry Tabor asnew managingdirectorBarry Tabor(right) has beenpromoted tomanagingdirector ofAutobox, theshort run box-making machinery manufacturer.He joined the company last year assales director. Simon Needham,Autobox UK sales manager for thepast six years, has been promotedto export sales manager.

Neil Andrewshas joined TNAEurope as itsnew generalmanager. He waspreviously themanagingdirector of Easiweigh.

Derek Dix has joined AtwellSelf-Adhesive Labellers as UKsales manager. He was previouslywith BBK Labelling.

Liz Finlay hasbeen appointedexhibitiondirector for ReedExhibitions'industrial group,which includesthe PPMA Show and TotalProcessing & Packaging – bothco-owned with the Processing andPackaging Machinery Association.

An industrial chemist by training,she has been 25 years in senior salesand marketing roles. She spent 15years with Electrolube, becomingdeputy managing director and alsosales and marketing director of theholding company, HK Wentworth.

Prior to that, she had a variety oftechnical service, sales andmarketing roles in the industrialand packaging adhesives market,working for National Starch andChemical and Swift Adhesives.

M A C H I N E R Y I N A C T I O N


Puck loading: Robotic system from RTS replaces two operators for Jeyes

RTS FLEXIBLE SYSTEMS

Puck-loading robot at Jeyesprovides one-year paybackLavatory cleaner and air freshenermanufacturer Jeyes has installed arobotic system from RTS to loadpucks with a difficult shaped bottle,eliminating a manual process thatrequired two operators. As a result,the system has paid for itself in justover a year.

To handle the bottles, RTSdeveloped a ‘bellows’ gripper fittedon the wrist of an ABB IRB 140six-axis robot, supplied as part ofan automated cell integrated intoJeyes’ existing Aircare bottlefilling line.

“The Aircare bottle has adifficult circular shape in slipperyPET that doesn’t stand up, so ithas to be placed in a puck prior tofilling and capping,” explainsJeyes engineering manager GeophHolcroft.

“The RTS system can pick andplace up to 100 bottles a minute, atan average of 5400 bottles an hour.It can do this 24 hours a day, whilethe operatives worked for up to threeshifts, and needed regular breaks.We calculated we broke even in justover 12 months and it has beenincreasing our margins ever since.”

Bottles are presented to therobot from two bowl feeders in asingle lane, with orientationestablished by a microswitch thatdetects a moulded stud on thebottle and tells the robot whichway the neck is facing.

Because the bottle is circularand particularly slippery, RTSdevised a bespoke gripperconsisting of a pneumatic bellowswhich is inserted into the neck ofthe bottle and inflated. The bottleis then placed in the puck in the

correct orientation, and goes on tobe laser marked, filled and capped.

“The six axis robot fitted veryneatly into the feeding andorientation line in a confined space,where the operatives had beensomething of a bottleneck,” saysGeoph Holcroft. “It has enabled usto run the line at projected capacityat a constant rate, instead of thefluctuations which occurred withmanual labour.”T: 0161 777 2000E: [email protected]

PFM PACKAGING MACHINERY

Reclosablepacks for wipesproduced onin-line basisImpregnated wipes manufacturerSevern Delta is now producingreclosable packs on a new PFMMistral flow-wrapper, speciallyreconfigured to overcome spacerestraints at the company’sBridgwater factory in Somerset.

Operating at speeds up to 70packs a minute the Mistral isequipped with a die-cutting andlabelling station that first createsan aperture in the film and thencovers it with a pressure sensitivelabel used by consumers to reclosethe pack.

This station is usually set atright angles to the flow-wrapper

but, to overcome space limitations,has been reconfigured above theflow-wrapper’s infeed, effectivelyproviding in-line operation.

The Mistral uses D-cam longdwell sealing jaws to provide anhermetic seal and avoid risk offluid from the wipes escaping andthe product drying out.T: 0113 239 3401E: [email protected]

Small rotaryfiller handlesproduct launchat ‘a good price’Bute Island Foods has bought aFastFill 60 rotary pot filling, heatsealing and overcapping machinefrom Packaging Automation tohandle a new dairy-free alternativeto cheese, Creamy Sheese.

Having seen the machine at lastyear’s PPMA Show, Bute Islanddirector Guy Crichton says: “TheFastFill 60 was the fastest

machine that offered all therequirements we needed – and at agood price.”

The machine is currentlyhandling 250ml pots, dosing 255gof product, gas flushing, and

applying a foil lid andplastic overcap at the rateof 35 packs a minute.

All operating parametersincluding fill weight and sealtime can be adjusted fromthe touch screen controlpanel, which alsoincorporates self-diagnosticsfor error reporting.

“As an all-in-one unit, theamount we can produce with theFastFill 60 for very little labour isexcellent,” says Guy Crichton.T: 01565 755000E: [email protected]

PACKAGING AUTOMATION

Pot filling: FastFill 60 completes 35 a minute

Reclosable bags: Severn Delta is

using a PFM Mistral flow-wrapper

Cartoning Weight Watchers: Two more lines from Kliklok Woodman

Heinz installstwo moreWeight Watcherscartoning lines Two further high-speed KliklokWoodman cartoning lines havebeen installed at HJ Heinz FrozenFoods in Dundalk to accommodateincreased production of WeightWatchers ready meals.

Each line contains a SmoothIndependent Product Transfer Unit(SIPTU), a Rotary TransferSystem (RTS), an HSR high-speedend load cartoner, and a QS600shrinkwrapper.

The trays are received narrowedge leading from upstreamequipment, and using a ‘smartbelt’multi-belt feeder, the SIPTU

smoothly positions them at thecorrect pitch for entry into theRTS carousel unit.

This has a series of productcontrol arms to lift each traygently and, using a rotary motion,re-orientate them to become broadside leading on entry to theproduct infeed conveyor ofKliklok’s HSR end loader.

Cartons are then loaded andclosed at speeds up to 250 aminute, although the line can runat 300 a minute if required.

Filled cartons are checkedthrough an open flap detector unit,and then collated andshrinkwrapped on the QS600machine in bundles of ten and 12.T: 01275 836131E: [email protected]

KLIKLOK WOODMAN INTERNATIONAL

ADPAL

Gantry robotsystem serves12 pallet buildpositionsDirect Wines’ new distributioncentre at Gloucester has beenequipped with a Costi PSP 200gantry style robot palletising systemsupplied by agent Adpal to serve 12pallet build positions at once.

Cases are sorted by scanning

their bar codes and directedautomatically to the appropriatepick-and place-gantry heads wherethey are picked as singles ormultiples and placed onto pallets.

Empty and full pallets arehandled by an automated transfercar system. Full pallets are thentransferred to a Tosa 115 seriesautomatic rotating arm stretch-wrapper, also supplied by Adpal.T: 01282 607707E: [email protected]

M A C H I N E R Y I N A C T I O N


Seed cartoning: Bejo Zaden has bought a Langenpac Breeze

SPRINGVALE EQUIPMENT

Cartoner links to seedsachet filler for securityDutch wholesale seed supplier BejoZaden has automated its cartoningoperation for sachets of seeds witha system in which, for security, thenew Breeze intermittent motioncartoner from Langenpac –represented in the UK by Spring-vale – is linked to the sachetmachine.

The sachets vary in sizedepending on the product– carrots, cauliflower,cucumber and so forth –and are counted intocollations of five to ten at60 a minute by a LangenpacBombay Tower infeed,electronically synchronised withthe existing sachet machine.

To prevent a double or missedcount, a reject mechanism isintegrated to deal with any sachetsthat are incorrectly spaced on the

infeed conveyor.Langenpac points

out that couplingthe cartoning system with thesachet machine has the advantageof positively identifying eachsachet type along the entire infeedpath, avoiding risk of cartoningincorrect product, something thatcould not be fully guaranteed in theprevious manual system.

Bejo ships its product world-wide and so, to reduce the cost ofprinting and holding a widevariety of cartons with differentlanguages, uses a carton with adie-cut window allowing productinformation printed on thesachets in various languages to beseen by usersT: 01420 542505E: [email protected]

Starwheel capper: Cap Coder machine solves a contract packing problem

Starwheel-basedcapper solvesorientationproblemEastbourne contract packerCosmetica has solved a cappingproblem posed by a contract froma cosmetics manufacturer byinstalling a Cap Coder CC560twin-head capper.

Cosmetica’s contract involvedfitting polypropylene trigger-spraycaps on PET flasks of a hair-careproduct but, on its existing capper,the spinning of the heads causedthe trigger of the spray unit to foulthe machine, causing stoppages.

The customer also required thetrigger-spray caps tightened to anunusually high torque and to bedelivered with the trigger headscorrectly aligned with the flask.

The existing machine could handleneither task.

In contrast, the Cap CoderCC560 starwheel based machinehas been able to handle the capswithout difficulty and is fitted witha 10A power pack rather than theusual 5A to achieve the highertorque demanded by Cosmetica.

The machine has also beenprogrammed so that the starwheelindexes twice, then tightens thecaps two at a time. The secondhead (B in the picture) then turnsthe trigger spray to the correctorientation within the cap.T: 01865 891466E: [email protected]

CAP CODER

THERMO SCIENTIFIC

Belt scalemonitors rawmaterials forconcrete blocksConcrete block and pavingmanufacturer Plasmor hasinstalled a further ThermoScientific Ramsey belt scale tomonitor output of expanded clayaggregate from a newlycommissioned rotary kiln.

Bolted onto a conveyor, thesystem is able to weigh bulkmaterials to an accuracy of ± 1per cent and is the sixth to beinstalled at the Plasmor works. Itconsists of three major elements:the weighing assembly, the beltspeed sensor and an electronicintegrator.

The weighing assembly consistsof either one or two compactRamsey 10-101R scale modules,which attach to the conveyor’sstringers and support the weighidler to measure the weight of thematerial on the belt.

The 60-12 digital belt speedsensor is mechanically connectedto the conveyor’s large diametertail pulley and generates signalsthat are proportional to belt speed.

The Mini 11-101 electronicintegrator brings together theoutput signals from the scalemodule and speed sensor to arriveat a rate of material flow and thetotal amount of material passedover the scale. T: 01788 820300E: [email protected]

On-belt weighing: Latest Ramsey

system installed at Plasmore


the conveyor and canaccommodate product up to1450mm diagonally.

Clive McNamee, who managesthe Welshpool facility for PearStairs, says pit mounting hasreduced manual handling to aminimum. He adds:

“The installation has created anadditional benefit – we haveactually reduced the overallnumber of packs we send out, aswe can create larger packscontaining more components,reducing the potential for loss enroute.

“Not only has staff time beenfreed up, our packs now look a lotmore professional and are betterprotected when they leave us.”T: 01432 851129E: [email protected]

Stretchwrapprotects stairsand allowslarger packsStaircases are one of the latesthouse-building components to beprotected during transit and on sitewith spiral stretchwrap.

Pear Stairs, Welshpool , whichbuilds staircases to order invarious types of timber, hasautomated what was once amanual operation with theinstallation of an HRW 145Ssemi-automatic orbital wrapperfrom Orion Packaging.

Previously, the staircases weresurrounded with bubble film thenstretchwrapped by hand, a slowprocess involving a significantamount of manual handling,particularly since sections measureup to 2.5 metres long.

The HRW 145S machine hasbeen pit mounted to allowwrapping to take place at floorlevel, with goods placed easily on

Spiral wrap for staircases: New Orion horizontal wrapper at Pear Stairs

ORION PACKAGING SYSTEMS


TOTAL SHOW REPORT 1THIS YEAR’S TOTAL PROCESSING & PACKAGING EXHIBITION PROVIDED PLENTY OF MACHINERY TO BE SEEN FOR

THE FIRST TIME. WE REPORT HERE AND IN ISSUES TO COME ON NEW DEVELOPMENTS FROM THE SHOW.

Brik alternative: T6 cubic polymer

pack can be microwaved

SPECTRUM INSPECTION SYSTEMS

X-ray checkweighing alsomonitors ingredient levelsSpectrum demonstrated howprogress in software for X-raymachines is leading to morecomprehensive inspectionincluding weight checks both onthe product itself and on theproportion of ingredients.

The new X-weigh systemdeveloped by Loma for its X4range of X-ray machines enablesthe equipment to weigh theproduct to 1 per cent accuracywhile simultaneously inspecting forforeign body contaminants.

This is achieved by taking aseries of scans as slices across theproduct and calculating weight asa product of density times volume.

Equally, because X-raymachines can assess different

zones within a pack or product –looking for missing items forexample – the X-weigh system isable to check both overall packweight and individual weightzones.

This makes it well suited toinspecting consumer-readyproducts such as ready meals andsnacks, in effect running a checkon the calorific value of the wholeproduct and identifying anygiveaway of the more expensiveingredients.

Feedback control can then begiven to fillers and depositors toadjust the proportions within thetotal weight.

Multi-lane checkweighing canalso be carried out which means a

number of lanes can be runthrough the system, with each packinspected according to its owntarget weight parameters.

Unlike traditionalcheckweighers, Loma points out,the X-weigh system is not affectedby speed, vibration, air turbulence,pack orientation or stability andcan be built more sturdily – with aheavy duty conveyor for example –to reduce maintenancerequirements.

The X-weigh software complieswith national weights andmeasures legislation andautomatically calculates thecorrect reject set points forEuropean and Canadian AverageWeight legislation and American

FORDS PACKAGING SYSTEMS

Wraparoundcases present aclean edge forRRP traysAn approach to retail readypackaging that retains thesimplicity of a single piecewraparound case, yet allows a tearstrip to be used to create thedisplay tray without showingragged edges, was demonstratedby Fords Packaging Systems,agent for the German machinerymanufacturer Meurer.

The wraparound case-packeremployed was shown handling foodtrays, loading them horizontallyfor transit to retain maximumstacking strength. Three of themachines have recently been soldin the UK.

For display the case is turned90deg to place the trays on edgeand the tray section created via atear tape.

However, case construction issuch that the cut edge of the blankis maintained at the side of the trayand at its front facing panel, givinga clean finish and avoiding theragged edges of a tape-cut, exceptat the back.T: 01234 846600E: [email protected]

Brik style packscan be retorted,or filled hot orasepticA complete packaging system toproduce a polymer alternative tobrik style liquid food and drinkcartons – suitable for retorting, hotor aseptic filling – was launched onthe UK market by Holmach,recently appointed representativefor the T6 packaging systemdeveloped by WT of France.

The first sale of the completesystem – which consists of form-fill-seal machinery, sterilisationequipment and a purpose-designedsemi-rigid laminate film – hasrecently been made to a French

manufacturer of sauces. The T6 system provides a choice

of six pack sizes – 250, 400, 5001000, 1500 and 2000ml –produced on one, two or four tubevertical form-fill-seal machines atthe rate of 40 packs a minute pertube.

Made 70 per cent ofpolypropylene, the film suppliedfor the system can be gravureprinted, or labelled, and uses anevoh-based double gas and lightbarrier rather than aluminium foil,allowing the product to bemicrowaved. It can also beincinerated without emittingchlorine.

Applications anticipated for theT6 system include baby food,sauces, soups, juices, vegetables

and fruit, with the cubic form ofthe pack minimising the need forsecondary packaging and makingfull use of shipping space.T: 01780 749097E: [email protected]

HOLMACH

Clean facing edge: Case construction

keeps tear tape edge at the rear


Weighing by X-ray: Loma X4 machine (above) now has new software

Minimum or MAV weight control. A statistical reports package

shows trends, giveaway and batchanalysis and can be networked via

Ethernet to a central factory-widecomputer or Scada system.T: 01252 893300E: [email protected]

A lidding station that can beretrofitted to existing tray-packing machinery to produce atwo-piece, retail-ready transitpack was demonstrated for thefirst time by Smurfit KappaMachine Systems.

Operating with flat blanks fedfrom a low level magazine, thesystem can work with both top-load tray packing equipment andalso with wraparound case-packers when used to pack trays,providing a wraparound lidsecured by a combination ofadhesive and tuck-in sections.

Shown working with a typicalhigh-sided, low-front displaytray, the machine first folds andtucks the lidding board into thetray at front and back, behind thefacing strips, then folds and gluesthe lid sides to small pre-

perforated areas on the sides ofthe tray.

In this way, with the liddingboard tucked in and extendingthe full height of the tray,stacking strength is improvedand there are no glue or tear lineson the facings.

Equally, as the tray is openedthe small perforated sections atthe side come away with the lid,leaving clean edged aperturesthat in most cases would, anyway,be hidden by adjacent trays.

The new lidding stationoperates on demand, with nocontrol tie-in to the hostmachine, allowing it to be readilyemployed with tray-packers ofmost makes.T: 01454 328660E: [email protected]

SMURFIT KAPPA MACHINE SYSTEMS

Lidding station for retail-readytray-packers is retrofittable

Adding a lid: Smurfit Kappa unit will work with existing tray-packers

JACOB WHITE (PACKAGING)

Form-fill-sealmachinery fromIndia sets aprice challengeCartoning machinery specialistJacob White has extended itsproduct portfolio with a range ofform-fill-seal machines made inIndia and selling at approximately65-70 per cent the price ofcomparable European-builtequipment. CE marking is carriedout in the UK.

On show was a PK-90 Duplexhorizontal sachet form-fill-sealmachine capable of producingpacks from 55 x 50mm high to80mm x 160mm high at speeds upto 160 a minute for powders and

100 a minute for liquids. Othermachines in the range cater forlarger sachets, up to 140 x275mm high.

Options include a GMP model,a straw feeder for placing thestraw insides the pouch, spoutsealing system, dual productfilling, notching device and gasflushing.

Further Indian-builtmachinery now available in theUK from Jacob White includesvertical baggers, with modelsaimed at small to medium sizebags up to 200g at speeds up to80 a minute and larger bags upto 5kg at speeds up to 60 aminute.T: 01322 272 531E: [email protected]

T O T A L S H O W R E P O R T 1


FJ PISTOL MACHINE SERVICES

Fluid bed coater will scale upaccurately from 1 to 800 litresFJ Pistol introduced the InnojetVentilus series of fluid bed systemsfor tablet coating, microparticlecoating or granulation and alsoannounced the sale of a 1 litrelaboratory scale machine to thepharmaceutical school atLiverpool’s John MooresUniversity.

The system employs a series ofannular slots at the base of thechamber through which air isdirected in such a way as to keepthe product moving in a constant,orbital path.

This, says the manufacturer,means there is considerably lessfriction than drum based systems,that friable products can be readilyhandled and that greater

homogeneity in coating depth canbe achieved.

It also means that the footprintof the machine is about half that ofconventional tablet coaters andthat the system is accuratelyscaleable from 1 litre up to 800litres capacity.

The spray nozzle is also circular,sitting within the fluid bedintegrated into the Innojet boosterorbiter, giving optimum distrib-ution of the coating media throughthe airstream.

The nozzle can be automaticallyretracted from the machine andthere is also an integrated CIPsystem.T: 01727 823461E: [email protected]

Manually-fedmultihead dosesextra product tomain weigherA manually-fed semi-automaticcombination weigher that can bewheeled up to a conventionalradial multihead weigher to dosethe correct weight of extraproducts directly into thedischarge of the main weigherwas shown for the first time byMultipond.

In this way, mixtures andadditions of products such asherbs can be achieved at less costthan the use of a splitcombination weigher while itemssuch as sachets can be added inthe correct number.

Multipond points out that theSAR unit – semi-automatic radialweigher – is a flexible systemthat can even be used to weighdifficult products such as fresh

salads since the machine does notinterfere with product flow overthe conventional multiheadweigher.

The machine operates in thesame way as a conventionalmultihead combination weigher,but is semi-circular in format withproduct hand fed into the ten

heads for combination to its ownparticular target weight.

The actual weight achieved forthe extra products is signalled tothe main weigher which thenmakes up weight to the targetweight for the complete product. T: 01494 816644E: [email protected]

Dosing extra product: Multipond SAR wheels up to a conventional multihead

MULTIPOND

KRONES UK

Starter levelunscrambleremploys simplesingle sizepartA starter level plastic bottleunscrambler for cosmetics andpharmaceutical containers up to500ml was shown for the first timeby Krones, which represents theSpanish manufacturer Posimat.

Capable of handling up to 100bottles a minute, the Posilite 5operates in a particularly simplefashion with bottles acceptedhorizontally into apertures on arevolving plate, which is the onlysize part.

Underneath the plate are twonarrow ledges – one inner followedby one outer – arranged in such away that only the neck is supportedas the bottle is carried past,ensuring containers drop basedown through the adjustablefunnels to the outfeed.

Posimat is now also making alarger version of the machine, thePosilite 10, which handles bottlesup to 1 litre and can be suppliedwith the company’s COBA(changeover by adjustment) systemthat requires no changeparts. T: 01942 845000E: [email protected]

Entry level: Posilite 5 unscrambler

handles 100 bottles a minute

Ventilus: Principle of operation


Italian manufacturer PFMannounced a new reclosable MAPpouch machine, based on itsestablished long-dwell sealScirocco flow-wrapper, offeringspeeds up to 120-130 packs aminute.

Called the Pocket Bag, the firstin the UK has just been installedat an English dairy to handlecheese portions.

However, the machine isequally capable of handling slicedmeat and cheese – supported ornot – as well as other goods withextended refrigerator residence.

Equipped with twin reel holdersand automatic splice the PocketBag machine first die-cuts oneside of the wrapping film with anextended V-shaped notch toprovide slightly tapered flaps.

Product is loaded onto the filmfrom a belt infeed and carried byit through a forming box set at 90deg to normal so that thelongitudinal seal is made at theside – which ultimately becomesthe head of the wallet style bag.

The longitudinal seal is made atthe base of the flap, which is thenfolded over and held in place by apressure sensitive label printedon-line, if required, with variableinformation. Cross-sealingcompletes the pack.

Once opened via the peelablelongitudinal seal, consumers canreclose the bag using the label.T: 0113 239 3401E: [email protected]

PFM PACKAGING MACHINERY

Reclosable MAP pouch flow-wrapper goes to UK dairy

MAP pouches: PFM has sold the first Pocket Bag in the UK to a dairy

Laboratory scale: John Moores University has bought a 1 litre Ventilus

“Rapid payback on investmentcan be realised due to increasedproductivity and reduced levels ofproduct handling.”T: 01905 28075E: [email protected]

Counter-weigher: Twin lane machine

introduced by Easiweigh

Dual purposecounter-weigheris aimed atsmaller firmsBoth optical counting andweighing can be carried out on theTwin Lane Counter shown for thefirst time by Easiweigh, providinga dual purpose machine aimed atsmall organisations or start upcompanies with smaller packingrequirements.

Built in stainless steel, themachine is said to be well suited tohandling a wide range of fresh orfrozen produce, and will run atspeeds up to 30 packs a minute.Quick release product contactparts make cleaning easy.

“This is an extremely flexiblepiece of machinery that willimprove customers’ efficiency andreduce operational costs,” saysAndy Brooks, general manager atEasiweigh.

EASIWEIGH

T O T A L S H O W R E P O R T 1


BOSCH PACKAGING TECHNOLOGY

Flow-wrapper representsworld-wide design effortThe Tevopharm Pack 201 flow-wrapper launched by BoschPackaging is the first in a newseries of flow-wrappers from thecompany, developed between six ofits world-wide locations to createmachinery capable ofmeeting the various demandsof markets around the globe.

It was introduced at Totalalong with a medium outputcapsule filler and a conveyorcurve aimed in particular atdelicate food products.

Said to be well suited tohandling tray-packed bakeryitems, such as biscuit stacks andcrackers, the new Tevopharmmachine has been designed fordelicate product handling and isbased on a balcony constructionfor applications that require highlevels of sanitation, such as frozenand chilled food.

The new wrapper can operate asa standalone machine or beintegrated with other packagingsystems such as Delta robots andsecondary packaging, producthandling, and various infeedmodules. Speed is up to 250 packsa minute.

A Pfankuch sheet feeder is alsoavailable for the machine to placesmall booklets, recipes, CD-ROMsor similar items into the packs.

For capsule filling and closingBosch introduced the GKF 1400machine able to handle powder,pellets, liquids and a diverse rangeof tablets or a combination ofmedia into capsules.

A significant characteristic ofthe machine, says the company, isthe dosing station that works onthe slide gate principle withtamping pins that fill sticky andfine-grained powder into capsulesaccurately at low loss.

An intermittent motionmachine, the GKF 1400 operatesat speeds up to 84,000 capsules anhour and incorporates a scannersystem to check that both capsulecap and body are present in the

transport area. An automaticsystem rectifies any blockages inthe infeed with incomplete capsuleparts sluiced out.

The new KB curve conveyorsystem from Transver is aimed athandling delicate items and uses anew drive that gives belt speeds ofover 100 metres a minute.

Consistent belt tension and the10mm end rollers are said inparticular to assist smoothhandling of small productsincluding a wide range of food andnon-food items including biscuits,frozen food, and pharmaceuticals. T: 01332 626262E: [email protected]

World-wide design input: Tevopharm Pack 201 flow-wrapper

SESSIONS OF YORK

Decorativeshink sleeverhas adjustable‘torpedo’The Cat Sleeve 500 decorativeshrink-sleeving machine fromSessions is aimed at the mediumspeed market – up to 120containers a minute – andincorporates adjustable versions ofthe ‘torpedo’ around which thelayflat shrinkfilm tubing is openedand cut.

As a result, and depending onthe spread of container diametershandled, users can often avoid thecost of discrete size parts.Similarly the worm infeed canhandle variations of 15-20mm incontainer diameter.

Sessions says it has paidparticular attention to theergonomics of the machine, withlow level reel mounting – and theoption of twin reelholders and asplicing table – and will beproducing just the one model toprovide the economies of astandard machine. A 2 metre longshrink tunnel is available, withsteam or hot air heating.

Size range of the Cat Sleeve 500is 30-300mm material cut lengthand product height, and 35-115mm product diameter.T: 01904 659224E: [email protected]

Ergonomic design: Cat Sleeve 500

has low level reel mounting

Banding forbananas usesless material Jenton announced that initial trialsof banding as a minimal packagingmethod have started in Scottishsupermarkets with bunches ofFyffes bananas being bandedrather than sold in bags.

The foamed polypropylenebanding material, which isrecyclable, is being sealed on ATS

ultrasonic US 2000 bandingmachines supplied by Jenton.

“There’s an 80 per centreduction in material being used,”explains Henry Barter, packagingsales manager at Jenton, “andcustomers like the added impact ofcolourful printing onto whiteribbon rather than a clear bag.”T: 01256 892194E: [email protected]

JENTON INTERNATIONAL

COBALT IS AUTO ID

Linerless print-apply labellingcuts materialcost by 15-30%The linerless print-apply labellingsystem introduced by Cobalt usesbopp film with water-based acrylicadhesive as the labelling media –cutting each label to length afterprinting – and is said to reducematerial costs by 15-30 per centcompared with die-cut labels.

At the same time, the systemaddresses recycling issues,eliminating the need to dispose ofsilicone coated paper.

Eliminating the backing paperand individual label spacing meansthat reels of the same diameter canyield 2.4 times as many labels asconventional pressure-sensitivelabels, more than doubling theinterval between reel changes.

Print ribbon length is similarlyextended to match the labelling

medium so that both can bechanged together.

The new print-apply machinewas shown integrated with a topand bottom case sealer as acomplete end-of-line unit, mountedon castors for mobility. The wholesystem, for sealing and labelling,sells for £14,300.

Cases from 140 x 110mm highto 500 x 500mm high are guided

into position for simultaneousapplication of both tape and label– to side, front or side and front –at speeds up to 30 cases a minute.

Cobalt is also now building twofurther models of the linerlessmachine, to place single labels onshrinkwrapped collations and pairsof adjacent side labels on pallets.T: 01606 42500E: [email protected]

Seal and code: Linerless label applicator is mounted on a case taper

DATALASE

Laser sensitivetape alternativefor print-applylabellingA case labelling and coding stationthat uses a tape sensitive to lowpower CO2 lasers, said to reduceconsumables cost by 30-50 percent compared with conventionalpressure-sensitive print-applylabelling, was shown for the firsttime in the UK by DataLase.

Capable of handling variableinformation and bar codes, theCasemark system operates withtape containing DataLase ink,which changes from white to blackon exposure to the laser, creating apermanent image.

The tape is cut and fixed intoposition on the case then imagedby the laser, which can be locatedto suit the line configuration.T: 0151 423 9360E: [email protected]

When laser coders first came on the scene,some pundits predicted that they would

eventually supersede ink jet coders in mostapplications.

In the event, while laser technology has notexactly dealt a fatal blow to ink jet printing, ithas become a serious challenger to ink jet inapplications such as glass and PET bottlingwhere a permanent, indelible mark is required.

“Laser is the number one method of anyonewho uses a bottler, on the grounds that it ishugely reliable, doesn’t use any consumablesand requires very little maintenance – plus it isbetter suited to difficult production conditions,”says Nick Horne, UK sales manager withDomino UK.

Cartonboard is another substrate that lendsitself to laser coding. UK bakery Warburtonshas purchased a SmartLase 100i laser coderfrom Markem Systems for applying variabledate codes to boxes of All in One Riddlers pre-filled bread rolls.

“In the past we would probably have used acontinuous ink jet printer for such an applica-tion, but a laser coder has proved far more reli-able as well as more cost-effective in terms oflifetime costs,” says Chris Beer, engineeringmanager at Warburtons’ Blackpool bakery.

And Taylors of Harrogate – manufacturer ofthe Yorkshire Tea brand – has been using lasercoders from Linx for over a decade and todayhas eight machines on site, including two newLinx 500SL scribing lasers, for coding theboard cartons used for Yorkshire Tea.

The 500SL coders are devoted to printing

multi-lingual codes for export. “Each countryhas different legislative needs, so to streamlineour logistics we use a generic box design world-wide which the Linx machines code directlyonto,” says David Lamb, group head of engi-neering at Taylors.

Printing complex charactersSometimes this involves printing a large num-ber of complex characters onto each carton.For example, Mandarin symbols are requiredfor packs destined for the Chinese market.

Information to be printed is downloadeddirectly to the Linx lasers from Taylors’ server,ensuring the accuracy of unfamiliar languagesthat operators would find hard to replicate.

According to Domino’s Nick Horne, a lot ofcompanies in other industries would like toswitch from ink jet to laser, but the problem isthat C02 lasers can’t cope with all substrates,such as hdpe and reflective metal surfaces.

Price is also a major factor influencing the

uptake of laser coders. Although prices havefallen significantly in the last few years, lasersare still typically two or three times moreexpensive than ink jet printers, which makesthem price prohibitive for many manufacturers.

Mindful of this, laser equipment manufactur-ers have been concentrating on developinglower cost offerings.

“There is continued demand for lower cost,lower powered lasers for coding a wide range ofmaterials, including cardboard and PET,” saysMike Utley, senior product manager (laser andthermal transfer overprinting) with Linx. “Thisis a demand Linx already serves with its 30Wlaser and will continue to do with new productinnovations.”

Similarly, The Needham Group says MacsaCO2 lasers, which it distributes in the UK, arepriced comparatively to many continuous inkjet systems, particularly when the cost of ink jetconsumables and maintenance is considered.

Allen Coding is marketing its new generation


LASER AND INK JET CODING

Laser costs comedown as ink jetfinds its level

CODING ANDMARKING

REPORTS ON DEVELOPMENTS IN PRINT-APPLY LABELLING, INK JET

PRINTING, LASER MARKING AND ON-LINE CODING SYSTEMS.

Multi-lingual codes: Taylors of Harrogate is using scribing lasers from Linx to code its tea cartons


of laser coders as a cost-effective range for thefood, beverage, personal care, pharmaceuticaland household chemical industries.

There are two models in the LaserSystemPlus series – the K-1010 10W and K-103030W. Both are said to be compact and easy toinstall into primary packaging lines for produc-ing static or dynamic codes on a range of sub-strates, including plastics, varnished andanodised metal, glass, paper and coated andprinted cardboard. In addition, the units incor-porate a high speed marking head, Ethernetinterface and integrated air cooling system.

High speed applicationsImaje says it has addressed the need for speedwith its 7031S scribing laser, which was specif-ically developed for marking on PET. It is saidto provide outstanding contrast, quality printand long-lasting readability at high productionspeeds.

Macsa has extended its K-1000 range withthe launch of a model aimed at high-speed bot-tling lines. The Macsa K-1000 SHS (SuperHigh Speed) is capable of coding at speeds of500 metres a minute which, according to Need-ham, makes it 60 per cent faster than the cur-rent industry standard.

Videojet Technologies, meanwhile, has justlaunched a new system called the 3430, whichis said to combine high speed coding with 50Wof laser power. Capable of coding up to 1500characters a second, the Videojet 3430 is saidto be ideally suited to beverage, brewing, food,packaging and extrusion applications. Moder-ate speed lines, such as those in the personalcare, pharmaceutical and industrial componentindustries, will also benefit from its high speedsand resolution, says Videojet.

An integrated user interface, small markinghead and flexible, articulated arm mean thelaser is easily integrated into any line. The IP65rated housing and self-contained cooling systemare said to ensure high uptime, even in dirty,dusty or wet environments.

Despite such developments, where speed is akey priority, in the majority of cases ink jetremains king.

Kimberley Clarke, for example, is a loyaluser of Hitachi CIJ printers – distributed in theUK by Euromark – because it finds they operatewell in a high volume production environmentwhere speed, marking clarity and reliability arevital.

The Hitachi PXR can code at rates of 700metres a minute. Automatic cleaning heads are

said to ensure high reliability and uptime, longservice intervals, and low solvent use while ahigh proportion of in-house engineered compo-nents contribute to lower running costs.

Similarly, Ivor Shaw – a manufacturer of sin-gle use medical devices and customer procedurepacks – relies on multi-head, multi-jet equip-ment from Imaje to print millions of charactersat speed every day.

Large amount of textPlant and development manager DarrylOrridge says: “The twin jet option on the 9030gives us the ability to print a large amount oftext at speed and, with the Imaje Message Cen-tre, operators can download messages simplyand quickly – imperative when there are 25-30messages a day.”

Even though the uptake of laser machines isgrowing, they still only represent a fraction ofcoder sales, with ink jet being the most com-monly used coding technology.

“Where people have got a limited budget andboth an ink jet coder and a laser coder can dothe job, 95 per cent of the time they will go forthe ink jet,” says Domino’s Nick Horne.

One reason for this is the higher price tag oflaser coders, but it is also because for all theirbenefits, laser coders still have their faults andlimitations, as Sunala’s Harry Thomason pointsout.

“True, there are no consumables, but thelaser tubes have a limited life, and the materials

the laser burns off can be carcinogenic, so youneed sophisticated extraction systems to get ridof them.”

Ink jet coders have their drawbacks too. Themain disadvantage has always been the level ofmaintenance required.

“Ink jet’s reliance on solvents raises issues ofmaterials storage, waste disposal and healthand safety,” says Mike Whiteoak, marketingmanager at Markem Systems. In addition, it is

High speed, high power: Videojet has launched the new 3430 laser coder in an IP65 housing

Faster coding: Macsa K-1000 SHS is capable of

speeds up to 500 metres a minute


much ‘messier’ than laser, and despite advancesin ink handling, spillages do occur.

Markem has addressed this issue with itsTouch Dry technology, while at the same timeimproving print quality. With the Touch Dry jet,the ink is a thermoplastic block, solid and cleanto handle in ambient temperatures. It is heatedon demand to the viscosity needed for jetting,drying on contact with the substrate to formclear, crisp print.

Sunala markets the Wolke m600, a thermaltransfer ink jet (TIJ) printer, as a clean, eco-nomical and easy to maintain alternative to CIJprinters.

“It uses disposable HP cartridges just likeyou use with a desktop printer,” explains HarryThomason. “And the cartridge isn’t just an inkreservoir – it also contains all the mechanismsyou find in a CIJ printer. It is also incrediblyeconomical, especially in a small characterapplication. In a typical pharmaceutical appli-cation with two lines of expiry and a lot number,you’ll get up to 500,000 codes from a car-tridge, which means the cost of ownership isaround 12-15p per 1000 codes. Couple thiswith the fact that the only maintenance ischanging the cartridge and it’s a pretty eco-nomic option.”

Mr Thomason says the Wolke m600 is par-ticularly suitable for printing Data Matrixcodes, a key requirement of animal health prod-uct customers, as the International Federationfor Animal Health has recommended that ani-

mal health products should be coded with DataMatrix codes.

“If you take a typical ink jet printer, it willcode at 60-80dpi. The m600 will go up to600dpi, and because it prints alpha-numericsyou get letter quality coding, which is crucial inthe pharmaceutical and personal care indus-tries as they use vision systems to check codes.”

Fifteen Wolke m600s are in operation atSmith & Nephew’s factory in Hull. The printersare being used to code a variety of information,including lot and date codes and machine/pro-duction line details onto both primary and sec-ondary packs in a variety of materials, includ-ing directly onto bandages, at speeds up to 300packs a minute.

Lower running costsAndrew Marris, asset care manager at Smith &Nephew, says the running costs of the m600 arefar lower than the printer used previously.“Prior to the Wolke m600, we used thermaltransfer printers but we found spares and main-tenance costs very expensive,” he says.

The Codajet 6000Plus introduced bySauven Marking can be fitted with an optionalautomated print head said to be a cost effec-tive replacement for CIF printers. It can pro-vide up to eight lines of text while featuresinclude a Qwerty keypad, a colour screen andPC connectivity.

Connectivity and the ability to networktogether several coders are increasingly being

Coding at Smith & Nephew: Wolke m600 ink jets code primary and secondary packs as well as bandages

C O D I N G A N D M A R K I N G


demanded by large companies, says Domino. Ithas just launched the A Series of CIJ printers,which includes ethernet communications asstandard, so printers can be networked locallyor enterprise wide. The A Series also has thecapability to send e-mail alerts to operators, forexample, to notify them that a make-up car-tridge needs replacing.

“If we can proactively email them, it pre-vents downtime and increases line efficiency,”explains sales manager Nick Horne.

Aled Ellis, marketing manager with TheNeedham Group, agrees that this is a key trendfor both laser and ink jet coding systems. Boththe Macsa laser and Citronix continuous ink jetsystems have Ethernet connection for network-ing printers. In fact, the newly launched Cit-ronix ci2000 systems also feature ciLink soft-ware, which is an embedded full web browserinterface to allow complete control locally orremotely.

“Anything accomplished at the system key-board can be accomplished via the virtual webbrowser interface, and soon, the systems will beable to send e-mail notifications for routinemaintenance and critical situations,” he says.

Linx says ease of use and ‘future proofing’ tocope with changes in coding requirements aretwo of the key criteria buyers are seeking fromCIJ printers, and says its Linx 6900 machine,launched in April, meets both demands.

The 6900 can print up to five lines of text,graphics and barcodes at line speeds of up to8.4 metres per second. Key features include net-working capabilities, a curved enclosure withminimal dirt traps and an IP65 rating. Lowmaintenance and trouble-free start-ups are saidto be assured via a full print head autoflush onevery shutdown.

Logopak is in the process of designing a newprint-apply system which it says will be

“extremely price competitive in a challengingmarket”, and will be “much more industrialthan competitive offerings and have recognis-able Logopak industrial build quality and lifeexpectancy.”

Branded the 400 series, the systems areintended to complement the recently introduced500 labellers and are scheduled for launch inearly 2008. But where the 500 is a moresophisticated system for high speed lines, the400 will be designed for slower speed applica-tions such as mail order, kegging lines and car-ton lines.

New RFID controllers, a new drive systemand new motors will be among the key featuresof the range. This will also be the first productto be available with Logopak’s PLIII-X con-troller, which is said to have major benefits overthe current generation of PLII controls.

Several Logopak case labelling machineshave just been purchased by retail own brandsoft drinks supplier Cott Beverages for its plantin Nelson, Lancashire.

The 515 labellers are being supplied for sixproduction lines including carbonates and asep-tic. Each will have an integrated bar code scan-ning system and Ethernet interface for laterconnection into a “Logosync” software solutionwhich will provide data from a resident hostsoftware being sourced by Cott.

Logosync software will accept downloads ofworks order files into a PC which will thenextract the label data to be printed and send anupdate to each labeller. Label data will then berecalled by the line operator from eachmachine’s internal memory, which will have thefull range of products loaded.

Winning two awardsMeanwhile the Imaje 2000 series system hasrecently won two awards – the Red Dot DesignAward and the IF Product Design Award.

Imaje says the features that earned the seriesthese accolades include an easy to navigateoperator keypad, a simple label thread path anda large capacity roll holder, which makesswitching from one label size to another quickand uncomplicated. To keep downtime to a min-imum, the ink ribbon and label roll have a syn-chronised service life, meaning only one stop forchanging both.

Domino has made a late entry into the print-apply market, following the acquisition ofSwedish firm Mectec Elektronik AB last year,and showed the M-Series of print-apply systemsat the Total exhibition in May. The seriesincludes thermal transfer and direct thermalprinters for short life labelling, as well as a sys-tem with RFID programming and readingcapabilities and a printer-applicator for palletcoding.

Domino says the series has been developed tomaximise production output and minimise dis-ruption. Features which assist with this includesimple label selection, large label and ribboncapacity, optional sensors to alert operators

Scanning and verification - Many manufacturers fit their print-applymachines with a scanner that will read the barcode as the label is applied, establish that it isthe right one and signal the machine to reprintif it cannot read the code.

However, this is sometimes confused withverification, which is another process alto-gether.

As Bar coding - Getting it right from GS1UK points out: “Bar code scanning provides noindication of bar code quality as it gives noinformation about the symbol other thanwhether it can be scanned or not by that par-ticular scanner.”

The verification procedure however providesmuch more information about symbol quality,to help establish that bar codes are capable of

YAG lasers use less power and last longerThe FAYb laser coder developed by Sunx usesless power that other YAG lasers and provideslonger life by the use of new technology thatexcites and amplifies the laser inside a fibre-optic cable.

UK representative Panasonic ElectricWorks says that compared with previous gen-eration YAG laser technology, the FAYb (fibreamplified yittribium) laser beam quality ishigher, giving extremely consistent markingquality yet without the need for periodic main-tenance.

Sunx FAYb lasers are said to operate withan energy conversion efficiency of about 50

per cent. Inaddition to vir-tually triplingthe laser diode’slife cycle tosome 30,000hours markingtime and alsogiving 70,000or more hours

lifetime, the power consumption is reduced toone third that of typical YAG lasers.

Speed is over 700cps, making the air-cooled lasers suitable for high speed lines.

PRINT-APPLY LABELLING

Challenge goesout on industrialbuild quality

when consumables are low, and straightforwardlabel and ribbon paths.

Asked why Domino decided to join an alreadysaturated marketplace, Nick Horne, UK salesmanager with Domino says: “There are a lot ofniche suppliers out there focusing on a specifictype of print or a specific market, so I thinkthere is room in the market for a good qualitysupplier who can cover a range of applications.”

One such niche system is Codeway’s GreenMachine, a horticultural print-apply machinewhich has halved the cost of labelling pot

plants for RA Meredith, which supplies themajor multiples.

The company was labelling 90mm pots byhand, and achieving throughputs of 500 pots anhour per operator, excluding the time taken toprint labels in advance. Based on this through-put, the cost to apply a label to a plant pot wasabout 1p.

Installing the Green Machine has increasedpotential throughput to 5000 pots an houralthough this is limited by the speed at which aconveyor can be loaded and unloaded. Even so,


. . . an extremely important differencebeing read by other scanners in the distributionchain.

Having checked that the bar codes are in thecorrect position and are not shortened in height(truncated), verification equipment can be usedto obtain an overall grade for each symbol.

Verifiers that meet the international require-ments will make measurements of and gradeseven separate parameters of the code. All ofthese criteria are measured separately and thegrade given to the bar code is the lowest scorefor any one of these measurements.

All of these characteristics can be measuredby verification equipment which meets therequirements of ISO/IEC 15426-1, whichincorporates the CEN standards. These stan-dards are compatible with those from ANSI

(the American National Standards Institute)and the table below shows how they compare.

Range (CEN) Alphabetic grade (ANSI)3.5 to 4.0 A2.5 to 3.5 B1.5 to 2.5 C0.5 to 1.5 D0.5 and below F

This standard applies to all the bar codesused by the EAN-UCC system, and provides abasis for agreeing the quality of symbols.

The aim is to produce bar codes with grades4 or A, although this will be difficult withsome printing processes and materials. All barcodes should be grade 1.5 or C or above,except for ITF-14 symbols printed on to fibre-board, when grade 0.5 or D is acceptable.

Case-labelling: Cott Beverages has bought Logopak 515 print-apply machines for its Nelson plant

the BrandNew PPMAMachinery

Directory for2007-08

See OutsideBack Coverfor details


three staff are able to handle some 2880 potsan hour, halving the cost per pot.

One virtually untapped area of opportunity inprint-apply is linerless labellers. The benefitsare clear: using a continuous reel of self adhe-sive label material means there is no backingpaper waste, reels are lighter and yield up todouble the number of labels per reel, and byrunning for longer between media changesthere are fewer interruptions to production.

Linerless systems have been around for awhile, but issues with feeding the media, adopt-ing the technology using industry standard printengines, cutting or separating the media intodesired lengths and achieving high quality printfor barcoding have all presented hurdles in thepast.

However, Cobalt IS now believes it has a sys-tem that addresses all these issues. “The liner-less media has been devised by specialists inprinted tape production, the application equip-ment has been developed using proven mediahandling and application techniques and theprint quality has been verified to ISO and GS1standards,” explains Janet Thorpe, director atCobalt IS.

The system uses established print enginetechnology, label designs and data connectionsand is capable of speeds of 80 packs a minute.

Dave Evans, sales director with AEWDelford, agrees that linerless systems are likelyto play a more prominent role in the future.

“There aren’t many good linerless systemsaround – we are well down the road towards alinerless system but it needs to have printingcapabilities which isn’t easy. It’s a little way offbut it will come because that’s the way the mar-ket wants to go,” he says.

But for now, the company is busy launchingits new 620 base labeller.

“We introduced the base labeller because astraceability becomes more important and man-ufacturers have to include more information on-pack, there is increasing demand for base labelson trays,” says Mr Evans. “Pre-printing differ-ent labels for each product is expensive.”

The 620 can print and apply labels to foodproducts at speeds up to 160 labels a minute.Label formats are selected via a simple userinterface, and the 620 can be connected to AEW

Delford’s proprietary networking system, allow-ing label formats, bitmaps and fonts to be trans-ferred at high speeds via an Ethernet connection.

Making equipment RFID capable has beenanother focus area for many print-apply systemmanufacturers of late. Indeed Weber MarkingSystems has just launched an RFID version ofits 5200 printer-applicator.

The 5200rfid features a system that canprint, encode, verify and apply pressure-sensi-tive RFID smart labels to cartons and palletloads in a single operation.

As labels are printed, digital information isencoded onto thin, ultra high frequency tagsthat are embedded in the smart label material.The encoded information is verified immedi-ately by the system and the smart label is thenapplied to the top or side of a carton or palletload. Labels up to 125 x 150mm can be dis-pensed at up to 300mm a second.

If an embedded tag cannot be verified, it isrejected before it can be applied. A swing plateintercepts the smart label for subsequent collec-tion and disposal, without affecting the runningof the production line.

Labels are formatted using Weber’s propri-etary Legitronic print-apply software, a PCbased package that combines label design, edit-ing and printing with RFID encoding to createreadable smart labels.

ASDA suppliers take advice on coding UK multiple ASDA has identified pack codingand labelling accuracy as a key element in thecompany’s drive to reduce costs.

“A large number of product withdrawalsare down to coding errors,” explains JohnClague, head of technical, ASDA Brand.

“We recognised that improving codingaccuracy and product traceability would notonly further enhance our overall quality butalso maximise the number of fresh productdays available to customers in store, whileimproving product availability and reducingstock loss.”

To this end, ASDA has employed CodingManagement, the advisory division of packag-ing coding management systems (PCMS) spe-cialist Claricom, to investigate and proposebest practice operational procedures for on-pack coding and marking.

On behalf of ASDA, Coding Managementhas worked with several suppliers to review in-plant coding and labelling, and has identifieda number of improvements that could be made

by manufacturers in the areas of demandplanning, forecasting and order fulfilment.

“The first phase of our project has identi-fied potential improvements in coding man-agement, and significant reductions in prod-uct and packaging waste,” says John Clague.

Coding Management says a typical manu-facturing facility can build up annual savingsbetween £50,000 and £500,000 by taking abest practice approach to managing its pack-age coding operations.

This could include reducing human inter-vention when setting up coding equipment, toeliminate coding errors, the resulting cost ofwasted packaging and product and reworks;optimising product life to increase sales andreduce stock loss; eliminating product with-drawals and establishing effective processesfor storing and applying variable coding data,to eliminate inconsistencies and consequentavoidable costs.T: 0115 955 5153E: [email protected]


Base labelling: New AEW Delford 620 machine can label 160 trays a minute with variable information



Contact ink marking may not be hi-tech, but itis certainly well proven and cost-effective.

If the application is to print a batch number,a date or a price then, says Cap Coder, the sim-plicity of its Gentle Touch reciprocating codercan be particularly attractive.

The machine is able to run at speeds of 160a minute without damage to packaging; a factproven, says Cap Coder by its ability to codethe surface of an egg yoke.

The small print heads are fitted with a typeholder to carry the rubber type which can bequickly changed. Multi-coloured ink cartridgesare also quickly replaced and last typically forover 50,000 sell-by date codes using 2.5mmhigh type.

The Gentle Touch can be supplied with con-trol modules for installation on a productionline, as part of a capping machine or as a benchtop unit for short runs.

Cost-effective: Gentle Touch ink coding head

installed on a Top Coder benchtop system

Contact ink marking offers cost-effective simplicity

As part of its drive to make complete codingsolutions available to customers, Domino

has entered the thermal transfer market, fol-lowing its acquisition last November of Danishthermal transfer overprint company Easyprint,and its more recent purchase of On-Line Cod-ing, Easyprint’s UK distributor.

Domino’s thermal transfer overprintingoffering is branded the V-Series plus, and thefirst system available in the UK is the V200+.

The V200+ is capable of applying variabledata including text, real time clocks, bar codes,Data Matrix codes and logos onto flexible pack-aging materials at a print resolution of 300dpi.

Designed for use in both continuous andintermittent modes, the system can be mountedon a variety of packaging machines. It incorpo-rates ‘dancing arm’ technology, which main-tains ribbon tension between new and used rib-bon spools, resulting in less maintenance andhigher production speeds.

Domino claims the printer’s patented Vari-able Ribbon Economy feature, which allows theimprint on the ribbon to be considerably lessthan the actual print size achieved on the prod-uct, offers ribbon savings up to 60 per cent.This, combined with the ribbon auto-retractionsystem, which ensures less than a 1mm gapexists between the prints on the ribbon roll, pro-vides huge consumable cost-savings by min-imising ribbon waste, according to Domino.

At the opposite end of the speed spectrum,the Imaje 5000 thermal transfer coder hasbeen modified to meet the needs of the bakeryindustry where filling processes are high speed– commonly 40 metres a minute – and operatein continuous mode.

An enhancement to Markem’s SmartDate 5thermal transfer coder, meanwhile, is said tosafeguard manufacturers against missing dateand batch codes.

In continuous coding operations – particu-larly bagging and flow-wrapping – missed orincomplete codes can occur if the packagingfilm is stopped during the printing cycle. Forinstance, if the operator halts the line to make amachine adjustment, or to address a set-uperror, the result could be a non-coded pack, anda potential product withdrawal. To prevent this,

the SmartDate 5 coder automatically detectsthe slowing of the film and completes a read-able code, even if the film comes to a stophalfway through the printing process.

Three month trialMarkem says that during a three-month trialinvolving over 15 million prints, the SmartDate5 eliminated all non-printed packs despite thenormal incidence of line stoppages.

Indeed, at Thorntons’ factory in Alfreton,Derbyshire, the installation of a MarkemSmartDate 5 has reduced batch changeovertimes, cut ribbon costs and boosted output.

The chocolate producer purchased theMarkem coder to replace an old rotary coder on

one of its packaging lines. It is being used tocontinuously print best before dates and trace-ability data on 25 different varieties of choco-late bar. The coder can also automatically cal-culate best before dates using preset formulae,to reduce human error caused by manualinputting.

The shuttle design of the Markem coder hasenabled Thorntons to ramp up the speed of itscoding process to around 300 packs a minute.In addition, Markem worked with Thorntons toreduce the length of the code being printed from30mm to 20mm, thereby reducing the amountof ribbon used by a third.

Technical process manager Mark Campionsays: “With the old rotary coder, it took about

THERMAL TRANSFER

Market entrantshighlight ribbonsaving systems

Missing codes avoided: Markem SmartDate 5 thermal transfer coder

15 minutes to change over each batch, becausewe had to wait for the barrel to cool down forthe brass lettering to be changed manually.With the SmartDate, 5 changeover is virtuallyautomatic.”

Codeway has carried out a number of ther-mal transfer installations recently, includingsupplying a printer for high quality art paperidentification. Having used an Avery Dennisonribbon save printer for some time, Innova Artinvested in the latest 125mm machine, whichaccepts labels up to 150mm wide for wrap-around labelling of fine paper cartons.

Mike Ramos-Gonzalez of Innova Art says:“It is almost impossible to see which section ofthe label has been overprinted and we are verypleased with the end result.”

Wenlock Spring Water, having invested in afully automated robotic system for loadingwater casks on the line, needed a means of iden-tifying products with outer carton barcodes.Wenlock chose the Avery Dennison 5.4 dispenseprinter together with Nice Label software fromCodeway.

The Nice Label software provides full data-base linking and the ability to create any bar-code label design required by the major multi-ples and to meet GS1 guidelines. The 5.4dispense printer provides the means to handleand rewind larger label runs.

Contract packer Country Products hasordered six Allen Coding Systems Jaguar IIprinters as part of a redesign of its packaginglines for bags of dried fruit, nuts and snacks.

The Jaguar II 52i and 106i models will benetworked and installed on three vertical form-fill-seal machines where they will operate intandem for high speed application of variabledetails directly onto the film, replacing tradi-tional pressure-sensitive labels.

The coders will be mounted on 90deg swivel

heads designed to ensure accurate positioningof information and will help boost output from20 to about 40 bags a minute.

Speed up to 350 a minuteAllen Coding’s Jaguar II 52i coder reproducesbar and source codes, real time information,sell-by dates, batch numbers, graphics andprices. It offers a print area of 52mm x 80mmand speeds up to 250mm a second or 350 printsa minute. The Jaguar II 106i intermittentprinter offers a print area of 106mm x 125mmand speeds up to 200mm a second or 300 printsa minute.

But on-line coding doesn’t suit every busi-ness. As Richard Pether from Rotech Machinespoints out, where a large amount of high qualityprint needs to be added to a pack, off-line ther-mal transfer coding may be more suitable. Itcan also solve the problem of how to supplyhand packing lines with coded components, be

they carton blanks, sleeves, envelopes or labels.By combining the right thermal printer with

a suitable feeding system, Mr Pether says justabout any item can be printed off-line and atsurprisingly high rates of throughput.

Unwins, the seed and bulb supplier, is a casein point. At Unwins’ distribution centre nearHuntingdon, a wide variety of different types ofseeds are packed into envelopes which carryinformation on the type of seed, sowing instruc-tions, and a ‘sow by’ date. Having these pre-printed would require holding a vast number ofvariants. For this reason, Unwins had alwayspurchased plain envelopes for their mail orderdivision which they would print on demand.

However, growth in the business demandedthat a new off-line printing system be purchasedto cope with increased throughput and Rotech’sFeeder 250 was selected. By using a continuousmotion thermal printer, the system is able tokeep up with the higher demand. �



SunalaT: 01942 674440E: [email protected]

Videojet TechnologiesT: 0870 240 5543E: [email protected]

Weber Marking SystemsT: 01875 611111E: [email protected]

For further information:

For full details of all PPMAmembers able to supply codingand marking equipment,consultthe PPMA machinery finderservice, tel: 020 8773 8111,or visit www.ppma.co.uk

AEW Delford SystemsT: 01255 241000E: [email protected]

Allen Coding SystemsT: 01707 379500E: [email protected]

Cap CoderT: 01865 891466E: [email protected]

Cobalt IST: 01606 42500E: [email protected]

CodewayT: 01206 751300E: [email protected]

Domino UKT: 01954 782551E: [email protected]

Euromark Coding & MarkingT: 01942 228882E: [email protected]

Imaje UKT: 01928 599420E:[email protected]

Linx Printing TechnologiesT: 01480 302100E: [email protected]

Logopak InternationalT: 01904 692333 E: [email protected]

Markem SystemsT: 0161 333 8400E: [email protected]

The Needham GroupT: 01948 662629 E: [email protected]

Panasonic Electric Works UKT: 01908 231 555E: [email protected]

Rotech Machines T: 01707 393700E: [email protected]

Sauven MarkingT: 01932 355191E: [email protected]

Off-line overprinting: Unwins has chosen a system from Rotech Machines for seed envelopes


GUTTRIDGE

Compact cocoaelevator savesspace forCadburyGuttridge has supplied Cadburywith a compact combinationmobile hopper and screw elevatorthat overcomes a shortage of spaceand is able to handle cocoa powderon a new chocolate processing linewithout the bridging and productbuild-up often experienced withthis material.

The Bulkflo unit meets theCadbury specification for a unitable to hold 600 litres of cocoapowder in the hopper, tipped from25kg bags, and discharge powderto a mixer on a ‘first-in first-out’basis at a controlled rate, withminimum operator intervention.

It is also designed to minimiseairborne dust and satisfy Atexrequirements for a Zone 22environment.

The cocoa powder is dischargedfrom the hopper by a horizontal,variable pitch screw. A frequencyinverter enables fine tuning of thedischarge rate, while a low levelprobe linked to an audible alarmprovides a signal for hopper refill.

A rigid screw elevator, close-coupled to the hopper dischargescrew, feeds the cocoa powder tothe mixer at a height of 2 metres.The elevator’s steep 70deg inclineensures that the whole systemtakes up the smallest possibleamount of floor space – a keyCadbury requirement, explainsGuttridge.

The equipment can be strippeddown for cleaning in minutes,thanks to the use of quick-release

clamps and slip-fit joints.T: 01775 765300E: [email protected]

HANSEL UK

Buffer storagecan be chilled aspart ofconditioningBuffer storage systems to provide aflexible link between productionand packaging are the latestproduct handling systems fromItalian manufacturer OPM,represented by Hansel UK.

Available as first in, first out(FIFO) buffers, or first in, last outbuffers (FILO), the systems areaimed principally at increasing theefficiency of both process and

packaging plant by providing asteady flow of product, but canalso provide further advantages,points out Hansel.

For example, they can be sizedto take the entire contents of an

oven, so that it can be emptiedsafely and valuable product savedin the event of a total downstreamfailure.

Alternatively they can be chilledso that products held in the bufferare not exposed to adverseconditions. This means that a FIFOtype buffer can also act as an extraconditioning zone, since there is asignificant, fixed minimumpassage time for products goingthrough the system.

OPM builds a range of productconveying and row distributionsystems able to take rows ofproduct as they are dischargedfrom an oven or a cooling plantand, following turning or re-pitching as required, feedpackaging machinery.

For hygiene, particularly withsticky products, OPM systems aredesigned so that row take-offstations can be readily retractedfor cleaning and maintenancewhile most conveyor belts can beremoved without disassembling theconveyor frames, as a result of thebalcony style construction.T: 01733 560911E: [email protected]

CONVEYORSand mechanical handling

NEWS ON THE LATEST CONVEYOR SYSTEMS, FEEDERS

AND PRODUCT HANDLING EQUIPMENT.

Guttridge: Cocoa powder handling system for Cadbury

Bradman Lake: The Autowrappers Automatic Distribution System

BRADMAN LAKE GROUP

Row distributionsystem offersfaster cleaningand changeoverThe Autowrappers AutomaticDistribution System (ADS) is anew row distribution system whichaccepts, aligns and feeds productsusing a height adjustable, singlebelt feeding process which halvesthe amount of product transfer.

Product handling and lineefficiency are improved, saysBradman Lake, and beltchangeover times have also beenhalved compared with earliermachines.

The ADS is designed on amodular basis and is able todistribute products to a number ofpacking stations if required. Lightguarding in place of conventionalmetal or plastic guards also helpsreduce cost.

Also to reduce cost theconventional belt tracking andalignment system employed onmost wide band conveyor systemshas been replaced with

longitudinal tracking ribs in thebelt that run in tracks on the ADS.

This means that the detectionsystem to monitor belt position andthe tracking assembly that keepsthe belt central are no longerrequired.

To simplify belt removal orreplacement, the ADS is built withall motors and controls on one sideof the unit allowing belts to beremoved or maintained from theopposite side.

Subject to the workingenvironment the ADS can besupplied in a standard wipe down,dust proof or full wash downspecification.T: 01603 441000E: [email protected]

SYSPAL

Combiner worksin line to createand pitch asingle laneSyspal’s Transverger is said toprovide a cost effective, fast andreliable alternative to peg and beltconverging conveyors for

Hansel UK: OPM buffer stores provide a steady flow of product

Auriga

C O N V E Y O R S A N D M E C H A N I C A L H A N D L I N G


combining items from a multi-laneinfeed into a single stream.

The machine employs intelligentspeed control to manage theoutfeed from upstream equipmentand employs an index facility totransfer product through 90deg, soavoiding the need to turn andseparate items mechanically.

There is also a final speed-upsection to separate packs prior todownstream operations such asmetal detection, checkweighingand labelling.

Syspal says that tests conductedin a production environment haveshown the Transverger to haveincreased production lineefficiency by 30 per cent comparedwith other methods.T: 01952 883188E: [email protected]

UNITRAK POWDERFLIGHT

Aero-mechanicalfeeder replacesbucket elevatorto tackle dustFaced with dust and cleaningproblems, bulk storage, blendingand distribution company WestwayTerminals has replaced an elderlyconventional bucket elevator witha new vertical aero-mechanicalconveyor, screw feeder, and bulkbag unloader from UniTrakPowderflight.

Not only was the old bucketelevator suffering from highmaintenance costs, but the speedof the buckets dragging throughmaterial being handled createdexcessive dust, waste and cleaningdowntime.

Now, however, with the newPowderflight conveyor and screwfeeder, and Bagstander bulk bagunloader, all operations arecompleted at floor level in a muchcleaner, more controlledenvironment. FIBCs can behandled easily by fork truck.

In turn, says UniTrak this hasmeant that extra mixes can be

completed in each shift whilefaster turn-around is available forrush orders.T: 01457 865038E: [email protected]

SPIROFLOW

Flexible screwconveyors feedSmash topacking linesFollowing a change in productionprocedure, Premier Foods, Histon,has bought two Spiroflow FIBCdischargers with four flexiblescrew conveyors to deliver Smashinstant potato to packing lines.

Previously, product made atHiston was held in storage hoppersand then transferred from theproduction area to the packing hallvia an overhead conveyor beltsystem feeding each of the fourmain packing lines.

However, processed product isnow stored in 2cu metre big bagswhich are brought to the packinghall by fork truck at the rate of 16a day.

When lifted into place, the bagssit in the discharger on an annularflexible membrane that forms adust-tight seal around the base ofthe bag.

Doors in the dust-tight cabinetbelow the membrane give accessfor the neck of each bag to bepulled down through the aperturein the membrane and stretchedover an upstanding spigot wherethe bag spout is held in place by alarge O-ring band.

This spigot is the inlet to thecollection hopper below eachdischarger.

With the cabinet doors closed,pneumatic spout closure bars pinchthe bag spout above the point atwhich it is tied. With theinterlocked doors open again,operators are able to untie the bulkbag spouts. Once the spouts areuntied, the cabinet doors areclosed again, the spout closurebars are opened and product thenflows into the collection hoppersbelow.

As product is discharged, andthe big bags become ever lighter,springs within the big bag supportarms, on each side of thedischargers, raise the bags higherand higher to keep them taut andto ensure maximum discharge ofthe contents. An alarm indicateswhen the bags are empty.

Each of the collection hoppersbelow the two dischargers hasbifurcated outlets from which twoSpiroflow flexible screw conveyorsdeliver product to the four packinglines.

A fifth, pre-existing, Spiroflowflexible screw conveyor is used toreturn good product to one of thepackaging machines after it hasbeen recovered from any faultypackaging.T: 01200 422525E: [email protected]

UniTrak: Powder handling system cuts dust for Westway Terminals

Spiroflow: New FIBC dischargers handle Smash at Premier Foods



TNA EUROPE

Servo drivenconveyor usesless force thanvibratory unitsTNA’s latest Roflo horizontalmovement conveyor system is builton a modular basis and requires nodischarge gates, which gives easycleaning and is said to reduceproduct breakage through reduceddrop height into the crossfeeder,give faster product transfer andrequire less maintenance.

The modular construction meansthat there are common, interchan-geable parts across the system andextra pan sections or lengths ofconveyor can be added readily.

Pans themselves are now built in adouble skin construction, concealingthe reinforcing sections and makingexterior cleaning easier, while driveis via servo motors.

This, says TNA, means the drivecan be set to provide just sufficientforce to move the product and thatmaximum acceleration is under0.8g, against the 5-5.5g typical ofvibratory feeding systems.T: 0121 628 8900E: [email protected]

TRAVTEC

Feeder handlescarton blanksand blistersfor codingA high speed feeder for off-linecoding of cartons and paper is nowavailable from Travtec.

The TR-750 Speed-Feederhandles flat cartons, paper sheetsand blister cards for coding by inkjet, laser, labeller or print-applylabeller. The carton is presented tothe coder in a horizontalorientation, allowing the top faceto be accessed.

The machine can be supplied asa stand-alone system or tailored tocustomer requirements for

integration with existingequipment. It can accept cartonsup to 400mm long, 250mm wideand 5mm thick, with throughputspeeds up to 250 items a minute,depending on size. Productchangeovers can be completed inless than five minutes, saysTravtec.

Options available include ashingling conveyor, OCV/OCR andlabel detection vision system,barcode scanner and reject unit.

Typical applications for the TR-750 include promotional videosleeves, loyalty credit cards,pharmaceutical cartons and packsof sliced meats.T: 01942 677664E: [email protected]

CONVEYOR SYSTEMS

Twin-lane spiralelevator canalso providebuffer storageThe twin lane reversible spiralelevator/de-elevator introducedrecently by Conveyor Systemsprovides twin, independentlydriven feeds, such as to a palletiser,and is particularly suited to dualhigh speed packing lines.

Also, if buffer accumulation isrequired, product can be fed up theinside lane, looped back onto theoutside lane at high level, andreturned back down onto the mainline with no need for sophisticatedtransfers.

Lane configuration can be 2 x200mm, 2 x 400mm or 1 x200mm and 1 x 600mm on thesame machine. Three x 200mmlanes can also be selected.

Meanwhile, Conveyor Systems’

range of spiral conveyors are saidto be providing the canning andbottling industry with an idealconveying solution, where asmooth continuous flow and highthroughput of product is required,either up or down from differentfloor levels, while occupyingminimum floor space.

No special controls are neededand, with just one drive unit, thisensures quick and simpleinstallation, says the company.Load capacity is up to 50kg/metre,and belt widths vary from 200 to600mm, operating at speeds of 90metres/min with inclination anglesof 3-9deg.

Two leading Scottish distillerieshave recently installed spiralconveyors from the company.

One is at the United DistilleriesLeven, Fife plant, where it is partof a full case line and, according toConveyor Systems’ projectmanager Alan Bickerstaff, “theunit’s small footprint proved to bethe ideal solution to savingvaluable floorspace.”

“Conveyor Systems alsosuggested spiral conveying toreplace a 7 metre inclined beltconveyor at Allied Distillers inKilmalid, Dumbarton,” he adds.

Conveyor Systems: New twin lane Spiralveyor

TNA Europe: RoFlo conveyors feeding TNA Robag bagging machines


“This was so successful in savingspace and increasing handlingcapacity, that two spiral conveyorshave now been installed.” T: 01283 552255E: [email protected]

AUTARKY AUTOMATION

Interlockingsections cutconveyor noiseby 25 per centNoise reductions up to 25 per centcompared with conventional slatconveyors are claimed for the CSSL Stretch Line conveyor made inGermany by Schüco DesignIndustrial Automation and nowavailable in the UK from AutarkyAutomation.

Capable of speeds up to 80metres a minute, the conveyorincorporates a specially developedmodular belt, with plasticinterlocking finger-shaped

sections, connected by 4mm pins.This simple arrangement can carryloads up to 200kg, yet is flexibleand light weight.

Autarky explains that the designof the CS SL belt system reducesthe hunting effect normallyassociated with traditionalconveyor chains as they compressand expand where the chains passaround their idler ends.

“Although this effect can beminimised by the use of acentenary, this can be one of themain sources of conveyor noise,with overall conveyor noise orchatter levels typically exceeding76dB(A) at 40 metres a minute.By comparison, noise levels fromthe new CS SL conveyor are just67dB(A) at 40 metres a minute,rising to 75dB(A) at the maximum

rated speed of 80 metres aminute.”

Noise levels are reduced stillfurther both by the use of speciallydeveloped belt drive and idlersections, with extended wearstrips, and extruded aluminiumprofiles designed to guide and fullycapture the belt.

This helps to eliminate risk ofdamage to the belt and improvesoperator safety.

Operator safety is also improvedconsiderably where the belt has toturn horizontally or vertically, saysAutarky, as the interlocking beltfingers do not protrude or createopen joints, which could otherwiseform pinch or trap points. T: 01342 311388E: [email protected]


For full details of all PPMAmembers able to supply convey-ors and associated equipment,consult the PPMA machineryfinder service, tel: 020 87738111, or visit www.ppma.co.uk

Autarky Automation: CS SL Stretch Line conveyor cuts noise by a quarter

our copy now online at

el: +44 (0)20 8773 8111(Credit Card Payments accepted)

PPMA member companies: reserve your copy NOW!!

D I S P L A Y O V E R W R A P P I N G


Shrink or fold?Balancing costs to decide

A LARGE PROPORTION OF DISPLAY OVERWRAPPING APPLICATIONS CAN BE MET WITH

EITHER SHRINK-WRAPPING OR TUCK AND FOLD METHODS. IT’S A MATTER OF PRODUCT

SHAPE AND BALANCING MATERIALS SAVINGS AGAINST CAPITAL AND OPERATING COSTS.

Tuck and fold overwrapping has sufferedfrom a widespread perception that it is more

expensive than the shrink alternative. In manycases, the price of a new high-performance end-fold machine may have been higher than ashrink system capable of running at similarspeeds. But the relative costs of fold-wrapBOPP and shrink film could soon even out anydifferences, and in fact mean that total costs forshrink were far greater over time.

Nonetheless, leading tuck and fold equipmentsupplier Marden Edwards has gone out of itsway to discredit the “higher cost”myth still further with an entrylevel machine, which sells forunder £20,000.

According to director JeremyMarden, the Evo-Fold will run atspeeds up to 45 packs a minute.“It does well for a number of rea-sons,” he says. “It means we getnew business in areas where cus-tomers assumed that end-foldwould be too expensive. But it canalso compete with refurbishedmachines.”

Typically, a refurbished second-hand machine may cost £16,000or £17,000 at auction, says MrMarden. But often even a suppos-edly refurbished machine willneed an additional overhaul, andthis can bring total equipmentcosts up to the price of the new MardenEdwards Evo-Fold wrapper.

The system can also compete with shrinkoverwrappers which, in the 35-40ppm rangewould be the costlier side-seal type of machine.Marden Edwards itself supplies Kalfass shrinkequipment in the UK, and a side-seal machinein this output range would sell at over £30,000,Mr Marden reports. A few Evo-Fold machines

have already been sold in the UK: two in phar-maceutical applications, one for medicaldevices and one wrapping blocks of paper.

Shrink tightenerAnother development from Marden Edwardshas been the shrink tightener for end-fold over-wrappers. This uses belts to apply a controlledamount of heat to a special polypropylene filmwith only around 5 per cent shrink. The systemwas originally developed to meet the needs ofcigarette producers looking for a skin-tight

overwrap, but interest has since been high fromthe confectionery industry.

Although the system has been available forsome two years as a separate system, for thelast few months the company has been buildingit into existing models, with no need to alter themachine frame.

When it comes to overwrapping, Campak isanother company with a track record in tuck

and fold equipment. Its current expertise in anumber of different consumer sectors began inthe cosmetics and toiletries area, explains man-aging director Ian Bickerdike. The company’svarious overwrap systems still tend to go to thissector with its specific quality requirements,rather than others such as food.

High speed combined with high quality wrap-ping is said to be behind the success of Cam-pak’s RV/P machine, one of which has justbeen installed at a major Irish manufacturer oflotions and cremes. Wrapping and spot-sealing

cartons at speeds up to 180ppm,this remains one of the fastestmachines of its type on the mar-ket, Mr Bickerdike claims. Theend-fold seals are formed byindexing sealing plates.

Campak’s RV machine, on theother hand, uses continuous-motion heated sealing belts toachieve speeds up to 250 aminute. A new development avail-able with this machine is athrough-conveyor.

“If a customer doesn’t needoverwrapping on some cartons,these can be transported straightthrough the machine on a belt.Most of our competitors wouldtypically use a bypass conveyor,occupying a larger footprint andcosting more,” says Mr Bick-

erdike. Using a straight-line belt can also avoiddamage to premium cartons when conveying athigh speeds, he adds.

At lower speeds, the RT/RP overwrapper canbe specified in either spot-seal or sealing-beltversions. These can be tailored to the particularneeds of products from vacuum-packed coffeeto CDs, videos and confectionery.

As a lower-cost solution, Campak has the

Entry level tuck and fold: Marden Edwards’ new Evo-Fold machine



AT/AP machine. One of these was installedrecently by a tea packing operation, says MrBickerdike. Here, the factory had a competitormachine, but wanted to upgrade to using teartape. The cost of this upgrade would have beenconsiderable, so the customer opted instead toinvest only a little more in a completely newAT/AP machine.

But because the company has its principalmarkets in cosmetics and toiletries, it is unper-turbed by the availability of cheaper tuck andfold systems, whether manufactured in the UKor imported. “You pay for what you get, andmost of these systems won’t give the Procter &Gambles and L’Oreals of this world the qualitythey demand,” Mr Bickerdike argues.

Changeover timesOne of the main accusations levelled againsttuck and fold wrapping by shrink overwrappingmachinery suppliers is that changeover timesare too long and costly. Campak has addressedthis issue with its CFR servo-driven size changefacility so that a combination of electronicchanges and manual size adjustments need onlytake 15 minutes, says the company.

While most tuck and fold machinery suppli-ers talk about “near hermetic” seals on theiroverwraps, Selo UK is not so coy about themachines from Tokyo Automatic Machinery(TAM), which it represents in the UK. SaysSelo sales manager Tim Dowling: “To ourknowledge, they produce the only hermeticenvelope overwrapper available.”

This type of hermetic seal is standard onTAM’s FN4 machine, which is capable ofspeeds up to 120 packs a minute. Additionally,it is available as an option on other machines in

the range, including the FN1 overwrapper, run-ning at speeds up to 160 a minute with a teartape option. Standard end-fold wrapping can beapplied to individual items or collations, with orwithout easy-open features.

Although the system can be applied to prod-ucts from DVDs and CDs to tissues and toiletrolls, the hermetic seal was first developed formedicines supplied to tropical or high-altitudedestinations. Clearly, the microperforated filmsused in shrink systems would not have providedthe same barrier.

As Mr Dowling explains, a similarly tightseal could have been achieved using a flow-wrap, but pharmaceutical companies wantedthe same tidy, quality presentation providedwith standard end-fold wrapped products.

Meanwhile, TAM has found additional mar-kets in carton overwrapping for the confec-tionery industry. “The hermetically-sealedwrap can lengthen shelf life considerably,” saysMr Dowling. “We are actively promoting thesystem in the UK.” The problem is the small

number of UK lines for high-value confec-tionery currently using tuck and fold. Theremay be more opportunities in pharmaceuticalsand cosmetics, he speculates.

Shrink overwrap systemsIn addition, another range of Japanese equip-ment supplied by Selo, this time from Omori,includes shrink overwrap systems. The high-clarity bead seals do not affect the visibility ofon-pack text and graphics, says the company.

Benefits of using shrink for overwrapping areoften the cost of the machine and ease of setup,says Mr Dowling. “Ultimately, the choice ofwhich type of system to use is likely to be mar-keting-driven,” he says.

Another company which supplies both enve-lope-style and shrink overwrap systems is Burn-

ley Packaging Machinery.Managing director StephenBooth says: “Burnley used tobe better known as a shrink-wrapping company. But whenwe took the company over, weresurrected the Carringtonrange to take on the big namesin tuck and fold.

“Now this part of the busi-ness is bigger than shrinkwrap.Part of the reason is the factthat people are saving onenergy costs. And the shrinksystems that we sell tend to be

more for transit than display.” Around a year ago, Burnley first presented its

AM4 fully automatic tuck and fold wrapperwhich is able to run at speeds up to 40 packs aminute, wrapping cartons fed from a magazinevia a chute. The machine is priced at under£20,000 and, significantly, says Mr Booth,changeparts are also relatively inexpensive ataround £570 each.

Cost is an even greater benefit with Burnley’sFK6 semi-automatic machine, launched aroundtwo years ago. Here, the cost of changeparts isas little as £470, says the company, while themachine itself costs under £10,000.

Since it has a manual element at the wrap-ping stage, the machine tends to run at speedsof 10-12 a minute, making it particularly suit-able for offline repackaging and short-runbatches of product. The low tooling costs aresaid to make a huge difference when smallerbrands are overwrapping items which may havea short product life, and where dedicated invest-ment needs to be contained.

Alpma may be used to seeing its fold-wrapsystems applying primary packs for cheeseand meat-based chilled products, but it is nowseeing interest in overwraps used to differenti-ate brands in the crowded cheese market.

The Cheese Company is taking thisapproach with its Tickler brand of maturecheddar. Aware of the need to make its prod-ucts stand out against the “yellow wall” ofcheddar and other hard cheeses, the companyopted to use a laminate over the gas-flush-applied primary film wrap.

A customised Alpma V64wk machine takesgravure-printed paper-foil laminate from thereel. Consumers are invited to discard the

inner wrap once thepack is open, and reusethe outer laminate withits self-adhesive labelwhich doubles as areclosing device.

Consumer acceptanceof the combination pack has been impressive,says Alpma, and the Cheese Company nowexpects to add further overwrapping capacity.

Alpma equipment is more commonly usedfor clear film wrapping of products such assoft cheeses, pies and sausages in combinationeither with direct printing or with self-adhe-sive labels.

Chiller stand-out for cheese

Shrink tightener: Marden Edwards system for end-fold wraps

Although Burnley’s SDO400 servo-drivenwrapper costs over twice as much as the AM4,the same changepart cost benefits are alsoavailable here, offering savings of around 30per cent compared with major competitors,says Mr Booth. The servo system will achievespeeds up to 70 a minute, and is being used onseveral confectionery lines.

Giftwrap toiletriesElsewhere, the SDO400 is being used to applysheet-fed giftwrap to toiletry products withsealing either via a coating on the paper or sepa-rately-applied hot melt adhesive. One brand-owner wraps 14 different pack sizes on thesame machine, says Mr Booth, with as manymagazines feeding the different sized sheets.Changeover, including substitution of the fold-ing box, takes just 15 minutes, he explains.

Yorkshire Packaging Systems (YPS), which

supplies shrink equipment from Rochman,Spain, is unconcerned by the prospect of low-cost tuck and fold machines upsetting the bal-ance at the low-to-medium speed end of theoverwrapping market.

Says sales director Glyn Johnson: “You’restill limited to square or rectangular products,and you still have the issue of changeparts ifyou’re wrapping different sizes of box. End-foldis great for boxes of teabags or cigarettes whereyou’re churning out millions of the same pack.Shrink gives you far more flexibility.”

Earlier this year, YPS installed two SMAF4020 machines from Rochman at BT’sNorthallerton site. “The machines are over-wrapping boxes containing the products thatmake up BT’s HomeHub package, including theinternet router and handset,” says Mr Johnson.“In all, the lines have to cope with about half adozen different carton sizes.”

This flexibility, which the customer could nothave achieved with tuck and fold, was the prin-cipal reason why this technology was chosen.Reliability of equipment and after-sales supportare generally more important considerationsfor customers than machine cost, Mr Johnsonadds.

The importance of reliability is underlined, heclaims, by the fact that in the company’s thirti-eth year of trading some 40 per cent of salescome from repeat business.

High speed shrink-wrappingThe SMAF 4020 machines at BT are close tothe high-speed end of the shrink overwrap mar-ket, managing outputs of 40-50 a minute. Themachine incorporates a touchscreen display,and a split infeed belt, ensuring product detec-tion of even the thinnest packs, says YPS.

As well as this high-speed side-seal machine,the company supplies semi-automatic L-sealers,achieving speeds up to ten a minute on A4-sizepacks. Then there are fully-automatic L-sealerscovering the 20-25 a minute output range.Rochman is currently working on a wider side-seal machine to complement the 4020. Whilethe 4020 has a cross-seal width of 400mm, thenew machine will handle widths up to 600mm,says Mr Johnson.

He stresses that the market for wider prod-ucts is a limited one. So with the YPS range ofL-sealers, for instance, some 85 per cent ofsales are of the 500mm x 500mm version, andonly 15 per cent are of the wider model. Evenso, Rochman and YPS are determined to coverthis niche in automatic side-seal as well.

Dedicated high volume linesAs a further demonstration of the way in whichproduct overwrapping markets divide upbetween end-fold and shrink, Mr Johnson citesthe example of the DVD/CD market. Here, heargues, the logic of dedicated high-volume,high-speed lines for single-size productsexplains why the UK market uses tuck and foldfor standard products. But he estimates thatsome 10 per cent of the market consists of awider size range of boxed sets and novelty vari-ants. Where these have to be handled, he says,shrink is the norm.

Friedheim International, which representsBeck Packautomaten in the UK, reports thatthe DVD and CD market is one of the largestworldwide for the German company’s Multiplexrange of shrink overwrapping equipment. Inmarkets such as Germany and Austria, says


New materials, new opportunitiesThe current retailer-driven vogue for “sustain-able” materials, including starch-based films,is providing new opportunities for tuck andfold overwrapping, says Marden Edwards.

Director Jeremy Marden believes the indus-try has come “full circle” since the 1950s,when wood-derived cellulose film was thematerial of choice for this type of wrapping.So it is no surprise that today’s starch-basedpolylactide (PLA) and similar films runequally well. “Our type of film transport can

handle these materials with no need for modi-fications,” he says.

Stephen Booth, managing director of Burn-ley Packaging Machinery, agrees that starch-based films perform well on tuck and foldmachines.

In fact, he sees this as a significant factor inthe resurgence of this technology. “There’sbeen talk about a starch-based shrink filmdeveloped in the US, but if it exists, it’s cer-tainly not in production yet,” he adds.

Shrink overwrapper: DVDs and CDs are a principal market for the Beck Multiplex machine

area sales manager Stephen Hampton, it isalmost the standard machine for these applica-tions.

Certainly, Friedheim has no illusions abouttaking the UK disc market by storm. Butaccording to Mr Hampton, potential customersin this area were among those which showed thegreatest interest in a new addition to the Multi-plex range at the Total show in May. Like theother models in the range, the MPX Pico uses aphotocell system to adjust to the size of ran-dom-length products. But it has a significantlysmaller footprint – and a smaller price tag.

All the Multiplex machines form three-sideseals and have the option of a 99-product mem-ory. The one-piece machine guard and slidingoperator interface makes for especially goodaccess when changing film, says Friedheim.Speeds range between around 20 and 40metres a minute, helped by a servo-drivencross-seal station.

Also at the cross-seal stage, Beck has devel-oped its ‘kissing lips’ conveyor system. Typi-cally, where the seal is formed, the gap betweenthe two conveyors can cause problems whensmall or irregularly-shaped products are beingwrapped. But when this feature is activated, the



For full details of all PPMA members ableto supply display overwrapping machinery,consult the PPMA machinery finder ser-vice, tel: 020 8773 8111, or visitwww.ppma.co.uk

For further information:Marden EdwardsT: 01202 861200E: [email protected]

Selo UKT: 0151 644 9393E: [email protected]

Yorkshire Packaging MachineryT: 01924 441355 E: [email protected]

Adpak Machinery SystemsT: 01282 601444E: [email protected]

Alpma GBT: 01256 467177 E: [email protected]

Burnley Packaging MachineryT: 01282 777007 E: [email protected]

CampakT: 01536 261501E: [email protected]

Friedheim InternationalT: 01442 206100E: [email protected]

conveyors converge as the product passes fromone to the other through the sealing area.

While the Multiplex is better for short tomedium-length runs, says Mr Hampton, theSerienpacker four-side-seal overwrappingrange is more suitable for longer runs. Usingtwo rolls of film rather than one, thesemachines can again achieve speeds up to 40metres a minute.

Other shrink systems suitable for primary ortransit wrapping include the BVM Compacta,

supplied by Adpak. The company says it is beingused by cosmetics companies with a wide sizerange of products to wrap although bigger mar-kets are currently in homecare and DIY, wherefilm typically replaces board rather than simplyoverwrapping it.

The range of intermittent and high-speed,continuous-motion trim sealers is increasinglybeing used to apply the only layer of point-of-sale packaging on products such as woodenshelves and doors, says the company. �

wwwTel: 01442 206100 Fax: 01442 206101 email: [email protected]

The Finishing Equipment Specialists

The best-selling machine in filmpackaging has been improved.Now the new Serienpacker SX is an even better package.

High quality packaging

● Higher output rate● Low maintenance● Optimal accessibility and short

changeover times● Processes all industrial films

See the UK’s most complete range of finishing equipment at www.friedheim.co.uk

REPORT:


Elau: New iSH modules cut hardware costs for multi-axis servo installations

TotalCOMPONENTS SUPPLIERS TO THE PROCESSING AND

PACKAGING MACHINERY INDUSTRY USED MAY’S TOTAL

EXHIBITION TO SHOWCASE A NUMBER OF NEW PRODUCTS.

Components

BAUMER

World’s smallestoptical sensor At only 4mm x 6mm x 45mm, theFHDK 04, the latest addition tothe Baumer family of opticalsensors, is the smallest opticalsensor with backgroundsuppression available.

Its directed-beam performanceis such that even the smallestobjects can be reliably detected atdistances up to 50mm. Itsdetection rate is not affected bydirt on the lens or in theatmosphere, nor is it compromisedby the object’s colour or surfacecharacteristics.

Several sensors can operate nextto one another without any opticalinterference among them.

The FHDK 04 also supports theIO-Link communication standard,so can be used as part of asophisticated control system. T: 01793 783839E: [email protected]

DATASENSOR

Multi-functionlight curtain A multi-function light curtain hasbeen developed by Datasensor tooffer multiple configurations ofmachine safety shutdown,previously only achievable throughusing combinations of differenttypes of curtain.

The SAFEasy light curtainconforms to IEC 61496-1 andIEC61496-2 and consists of anSE4-RA1 active unit inside asturdy extruded aluminiumhousing and an SE4-RDB passiveunit with integral reflectors.Alternatively, the passive functionscan be provided by a pair of SE4-RSMs with mirrors provided asaccessories.

Features such as restart, muting,muting time-out and EDM(electronic detection of movement),are all provided and selectablethrough switches on the active unit.

The muting function is used toconfigure the light curtain into an‘L’ or ‘T’ shape to allow selectiveaccess. The time out functiondisables the muting to apredetermined time base.

The detection height is 500mmand the operating range is up to7.5 metres for the linear version or3 metres for the ‘L’ and the ‘T’versions. T: 01869 249800E: [email protected]

ELAU

Flexible drivesaves space A combined servomotor andamplifier designed to save space onmachines and in their controlcabinets, has been introduced byElau.

These are intended to becontrolled by PacDrivemotion/logic controllers via asingle cable that supplies both

power and control data. Up to 16of the iSH servo modules can besupplied by the same power supply.

Elau says that the new conceptwill reduce the complexity ofsystems and their cablingrequirements drastically, resultingin improved reliability and a moremodular approach to design andredesign.T: 01908 628014E: [email protected]

FESTO

Pneumatic andelectric actuator Machine actuation systems cannow integrate electrical andpneumatic axes with a singlecontroller following the launch byFesto of the DNCE series ofelectrical piston-rod cylinders,which are completely compatiblewith its DNC pneumatic cylinders.

The drive for the DNCE can beFesto’s MTR-DCI intelligent servo

motor with built-in amplifier,motion controller and encoderfeedback. Alternatively, most thirdparty servo or stepper motors canbe used, fitted in line or in parallelvia a toothed belt coupling.

There is a choice of low-costlead screw or high performanceballscrew, with the former giving1m/s/s acceleration and 0.07mmpositional accuracy and the latterachieving 6m/s/s and 0.02mm.Feed velocities can be up to1000mm/sec and feed force ashigh as 2000N for some models.

The DNCE is offered in 32mm,40mm and 63mm frame sizes anda range of standard stroke lengthsup to 800mm. Bespoke lengths areavailable to order.T: 0800 626422 E: [email protected]

IFM ELECTRONIC

Solid stateflow sensorThe SI5000 is the latest solid-stateflow sensor introduced by IFMElectronic and features a housingof stainless steel so that it can beused in the most arduous and/orhygienic applications.

The SI5000 range uses IFM’scalorimetric measuring principle,allowing the sensor to operate withno wear at all while providing highsensitivity and repeatability. Themeasuring range covers 3-300cm/s for liquids and 200-3,000cm/s for gases. Temperatures canvary between -25 and 80deg C.

Other features of the earlierunits have been retained, forexample push-button setting ofswitch points and multicolourLEDs on the unit to indicate flowand switch points. Electroniclocking of the settings andresetting the parameters to thefactory setting provide additionalsafety.

By using process adapters thesensors can be integrated in almostany pipe fitting. The unit isunaffected by the orientation of the

T O T A L R E P O R T : C O M P O N E N T S


sensing face with respect to thedirection of flow, providingincreased flexibility of installation.T: 020 8213 0000E: marketing_gb@ ifm-electronic.com

BELT TECHNOLOGIES EUROPE

Drive belt hasstrength of steel The extremely high strength toweight ratio of Belt Technologies’steel drive belts and tapes is said tomake them well suited to largeloads or where space is restricted.They can be used for both indexingand general conveying duties.

Other features useful tomachinery builders and operatorsinclude low noise, durability andoperational repeatability. Freedomfrom lubrication and immunity tostatic build-up make themattractive in clean environments.

In many cases Belt Technologiessays it is approached to developcustomised design solutions whereoperating performance orcharacteristics are required thatcannot be achieved by the moretraditional chain, plastic andtoothed belts. T: 0191 415 3010E: [email protected]

BURKERT FLUID CONTROL

Single cable cutscontrol costsControl system costs can be cut onall fronts with the new 8650AirLINE-EX valve system fromBurkert, which uses Profibusdistributed I/O to connect digitalpneumatic outputs with bothanalogue and digital electronicsignals from other field deviceswithin a machine control system.

Systems built using the 8650can be suitable for use in AtexZone 0 and Zone 1 installation.

The 8650 is built in a modularformat and offers numerousoptions for up to 48 valves ofvarious functionality, size and

connection to be integrated intoone system. Remote parametersetting and diagnostics can becarried out via the Profibus link,while hot swapping of the modulesallows for easy reconfiguration andmaintenance. T: 01453 731353E: [email protected]

ELESA

Conveyor partsand clampsElesa has released a new range ofstandard conveyor components andprofile rod clamps for mountingcomponents and sub-assembliesonto machines.

The conveyor range includesfeet, connectors, guide rails,brackets and so forth, allmanufactured in high performanceglass reinforced polymer alongwith other ferrous components.Together these allow bespokeconveying systems to be quicklyand easily constructed.

The clamps feature a multi-splined aluminium profile of13mm diameter, linked withprecision thermoplastic elementsincluding a twin-bolted base withuniversal orientation capabilities.

Mating arms, clamps andmounting flanges complete thesystem to create an almostinfinitely flexible clamp suitablefor a wide range of industrial uses.T: 01526 322670E: [email protected]

BOSCH REXROTH

Washdownvalve terminal The CL03 Clean Line pneumaticvalve terminal from Bosch Rexrothis designed to withstand highpressure washdown in industriessuch as food and pharmaceuticals.

Meeting IP69K requirements,the CL03 has a protective cover sothat it can be field-mounted closeto the machine it is controlling,rather than in a remote control

cabinet. Other details such asspacing and choice of materialshave been designed to minimisecontamination risks.

The terminal is based onindividual sub-bases for eachvalve, rather than a monoblocconstruction. Up to 16 sub-basescan be integrated to form a unitarymanifold, fitting together quicklybecause each has its own internalwiring.T: 01480 223200E: [email protected]

RITTAL

HygienicenclosureRittal has introduced a new rangeof enclosures for 2007, specificallydesigned as a defence againstdeposits and accumulation of dirton surfaces and in crevices andrecesses.

Meeting IP66, the enclosureshave a 30deg sloping overhangingroof, internal hinges and a flat gapsilicon door seal. The mountingbracket is made from tubularstainless steel and designed toavoid dirt traps. Associatedaccessories are also designed withdirt control in mind.

A complementary new rangemeets the even more stringentIP69K standards, for regularrigorous wash downs with a floodof water to maintain the highestlevels of hygiene.

These are water tight to protectthe internal electrical components,guaranteed to 100 bar pressureand temperatures of 80deg C. T: 01709 704000E: [email protected]

TSUBAKIMOTO UK

Transmissionchain runs longerTsubakimoto’s new G7 ANSIstandard chain uses an innovativebushing design that improvesinternal lubrication and is said toextend wear life by 100 per cent. It

also has the effect of increasingpower capacity by 33 per cent.

The bushings employ a newproduction technique that enablesa series of grooves to beincorporated on the inner surfaceof a cold forged, extruded bush.This gives a precise cylindricalprofile for better surface contactbetween the pin and bushing, andimproved lubricant retention.

The patent design lube groovebush ensures that the chain isoptimally lubricated, particularlyin real world conditions whereinconsistent lubrication is a factor.

The result is a chain that lastssignificantly longer in the field.When tested, G7 chain lasted twiceas long as Tsubakimoto’s previousgeneration ANSI chain. T: 01623 688700E: [email protected]

INMOCO

Motion and logiccontrol combineMachine builders can now replacecombinations of proprietarymotion controllers and PLCs witha single Ormec SLMC (ServoWireMotion and Logic Controller) fromInmoco.

The SMLC provides costeffective integrated motionsolutions from one to 16 axes.Offering a small installationfootprint, and providing advancedfeatures such as Pentium 32-bitprocessors, IEEE 1394b FireWirenetworking and Ethernetconnectivity, the SMLC is a systemthat can control an entire machine.

It combines Ormec soft motiontechnology with all five IEC61131-3 programming languages,PLCopen motion function blocks,and industry standard protocols forI/O and network connectivity, into apowerful, compact control packagethat reduces wiring complexity,panel space requirements, andprogramming effort. T: 01327 307600E: [email protected]


L A B E L L I N G

Bulk weigh-price labeller: New WPL 8500 machine from AEW Delford

Decorative sleeve: Baby Bio handled

on a Turpins Sleevemaster

HARLAND MACHINE SYSTEMS

Motion controlupgrade givesapplicator moreflexibilityHarland’s latest Mercury in-linelabeller now uses motion controlcomponents compatible with thereal-time Ethernet Powerlinkprotocol, simplifying the electricalsystem and providing greaterflexibility for customisation.

At the same time, the openconnectivity allows users to linkthe machine to a factory-widenetwork for improved efficiency,says supplier Baldor UK.

The Mercury offers speed up to275 items a minute and employssix servo motor axes and a pair ofstepper motor axes on each head.

The previous Mercury machineneeded seven motion controllersfor a typical dual-headconfiguration, but Baldor’sEthernet Powerlink controllerreduces this to three.

All of the servo drives and I/O onthe main machine are connected bya daisy-chained Ethernet cable,saving wiring and space, as well aseliminating dozens of assemblyoperations. This has also allowedthe drives to be fitted on oneelectrical panel, rather than theseveral used before.

“Ethernet Powerlink technologyhas helped us to make ourelectrical system both simpler, andmore modular,” says Tec Wright,product development manager atHarland. “It means that we canbuild systems more quickly.”

He adds: “The high speedEthernet network has so muchbandwidth that we now have muchmore flexibility to customiselabelling machines and incorporateadditional features.”

Baldor UKT: 01454 850000E: [email protected]

Harland Machine SystemsT: 0161 848 4800E: [email protected]

AEW DELFORD

The WPL 8500 heavy productweigh-price labeller announced byAEW Delford has been specificallydesigned to weigh and label itemssuch as bulk or catering packs upto 600mm long and 600mm wide,with a weight up to 27.5kg.

It can also be used to applywarehouse tracking labels to casesand crates, or point-of-saleinformation to outer packaging.Speed is up to 35 items a minuteand labels can be applied to thefront or side of the product.

Equipped with a high definitionthermal print head, the WPL 8500is able to print a variety ofinformation including pack weightand price; unit price (price per kg,g or lb); date, in up to four formatsreferenced to the system’s onboardclock, including offset use by orbest before dates; barcodes

EAN13, EAN8 and EAN128; andup to 12 text lines that can beedited with PC-based software.Graphics can also be added.

Non-printing variables that canbe programmed into the system

include low and high weight limits,package tare, label position,maximum pack length, price andweight units.T: 01255 241000E: [email protected]

HERMA UK

Servo drive forentry level 200-a-minute labeller The H400 Econ entry level pressuresensitive label applicator introducedby Herma employs the same 400Wservo drive as other models in theH400 range and offers a maximum

speed of 30 metres a minute – up to200 labels a minute – to anaccuracy of ± 0.5mm.

It is fitted with a label sensorwhich works with any substrate,including clear film.

All of the controls for the H400are contained in the body of thelabeller eliminating interconnec-ting cables and bulky control

boxes, while a range of pedestalsand mounting devices gives quickand simple adjustment.

“The H400 Econ brings servotechnology within the reach ofbudgets previously only able tostretch to low cost stepper motordriven units,” says Herma UK.T: 01440 763366E: [email protected]

A Turpins SleeveMaster SLmachine is now being used to applydecorative sleeves to emptycontainers of Bayer’s Baby Bioplant food in support of BreastCancer Care.

Modified to ensure that accurateorientation of both container andsleeve was maintained, throughfrom the sleeve application to

shrinking on the product, themachine is equipped with a SleevitShrinkMaster Steam 2000 tunnel.

This is said to provide theaccuracy required for consistentresults since the empty bottles havea distortion temperature very closeto the sleeve shrink temperature. T: 01255 423 402E: [email protected]

Steam shrink tunnel provides accuracy for sleevingTURPINS PACKAGING SYSTEMS

Weigh-price labeller suitscatering or bulk containers


N E W M A C H I N E R Y

New Machinerycontinues on page 64

Tablet feederhandles multi-product blistersThe NG tablet feeder from Electro-mec is more compact than itspredecessor allowing up to threeindividual units to be installedside-by-side on a single, standardbed length blister machine.

As a result, the system is able tohandle multi-product blisters,using individual feeder tubes thatdose a single tablet or capsule intothe blister form at each cycle.

The feed tubes in the NG modelnow also feature a helical design

said to eliminate risk ofshingle-prone productsjamming.

Other enhancementsinclude remote touchscreen control andtooling that is securedwithout fasteners tocomply with latest cGMPrequirements.

Overall, the NG feeder isdesigned on a modular basis,enabling the machine to be tailored

to the particular combination ofweb width and draw required byindividual users.T: 0118 958 2035E: [email protected]

PROSEAL

Sandwich pack denester can mount on tray sealersProseal has developed a sandwichpack denester to handle skillets forvirtually every board sandwichpack design currently available.

A single tool has been created foreach individual sandwich packdesign and only simple adjustmentis then required to accommodatethe different sizes within the range,says the company.

The machine uses a vacuum arm

Baker Perkins

Upgraded biscuitforming rangeuses enhancedmotion controlAn upgraded forming range forcrackers and hard sweet biscuits,with new motion controlarrangements for improvedaccuracy and performance, hasbeen announced by Baker Perkins.

Sheet forming, gauging andcutting all make new use of anintegrated plant control systemsaid to achieve more accuratecontrol of dough sheet thickness,faster response, on- the-runadjustments, and lower energyconsumption.

Optionally, the first and finalgauge rolls can also now beconstantly monitored and adjustedto ensure an even feed of doughthrough the system, and consistentdough sheet thickness at the rotarycutter.

Since laminating, sheeting,gauging, cutting and conveyorelements of the line all run atvarying speeds the system is ableto cascade any speed changesmade in one part of the line to theupstream units.

This is achieved by dividing theline into a number of independentlycontrolled modules intelligentlylinked into a centralised controlsystem that provides overallmanagement of the line.T: 01733 283000E: [email protected]

to pull each pack into shape andpresent it ready for insertion of thesandwiches prior to sealing. It canbe linked to Proseal’s SP30 andSP60 tray sealing machines tofurther automate the operation.T: 01625 856600 E: [email protected]

Upgraded control: Baker Perkins

combination laminator machine

Print and pack machineruns wider bags The AB 180 OneStep is the latest in the AutomatedPackaging range of ‘print and pack’ machines, bringingtogether the Autobag AB 180 wide format bag-on-reelmachine and PI 412c overprinter to provide a single pointorder fulfilment station.

Information for the shipping address – in most popularlabel formats including bar codes – is transferred directfrom the user’s database for overprinting on the bag, whichis then presented for loading and automatically sealed.

Operating at speeds up to 30 bags a minute, the AB 180OneStep is able to handle bags 50-279mm wide and 140-635mm long.T: 01684 891400 E: [email protected] Order fulfilment: AB 180 OneStep handles wider bags

AUTOMATED PACKAGING SYSTEMS

Denester: Proseal machine handles

most board skillets for sandwiches

Compact unit: Electro-mec NG tablet feeder

ELECTRO-MEC (READING)

N E W M A C H I N E R Y


time operating system to run theimage processing software. Speedis up to 600 items a minute. T: 01489 553740E: [email protected]

THERMO FISHER SCIENTIFIC

Solid statesystem tomeasure CO2 inbeveragesAn alternative to traditionaltemperature-pressure methods ofmeasuring CO2 concentration incarbonated drinks has beenannounced by Thermo FisherScientific, which has developed areal time method based on infra-red and attenuated totalreflectance (ATR).

The CrystalVision CO2

measurement system is said toensure higher accuracy andconsistency, particularly wherebeverage producers are usingmanual sampling – which caninduce variances due to samplingmethods, points out Thermo Fisher– and rely on calculations thatignore density differences orextraneous gases.

The CrystalVision sensor is saidto be a cost-effective solution thatis easy to deploy and integrate intothe beverage production process,particularly brewing, and canwithstand clean-in-place (CIP)cycles.

Using the latest infra-redtechnology, the sensor onlymonitors CO2, and is not affectedby pressure spikes or extraneousgases, such as dissolved oxygen ornitrogen. It can be standalone orintegrated into an informationmanagement system.

The sensor is also completelysolid state and, apart from periodiccalibration, is said to be virtuallymaintenance free.

“This allows beveragemanufacturers to operate thesensor continuously without thehigh replacement costs typical inconventional sensors, such asdiaphragms, filters ormembranes,” says Thermo FisherScientific.T: 01788 820300E: [email protected]

S + S INSPECTION

X-ray inspection: Second generation Raycon machine has extra features

X-ray inspection includesweight and broken productsS + S has introduced the secondgeneration Raycon range of X-rayinspection systems which use alower power X-ray source but aresaid to provide enhanced imageprocessing at higher throughputspeeds than previous models.

The new system detects bothmetallic and non-metallic productcontamination and is also able toidentify missing, broken orunderweight product to anaccuracy of ±1 per cent, says themanufacturer.

Four standard models areavailable to handle products up to400mm wide and 200mm high.Systems for smaller or largerproducts are available to specialorder.

Housed in a stainless steel

cabinet sealed to IP65, themachines feature a touch-screenLCD monitor sealed to IP66 andemploy a high performanceindustrial PC with the QNX real-

SHRINKWRAP MACHINERY CO

An automatic side-sealing wrapperintroduced by ShrinkwrapMachinery is available equippedwith a moving seal head forcontinuous motion and speeds upto 60 items a minute or with afixed sealing head for intermittent

HAPA-LAETUS

Bar code reader also verifies and grades in real timePharmaceutical packagingsecurity specialist Laetus hasannounced a bar code readingsystem that is also able to verifyand grade the codes to ANSIstandards in real time at speeds of400-500 a minute.

The Argus Inspect WT camerasystem can handle one and twodimensional bar codes, providingadditional quality control within apackaging security system whilealso recording evidence of product

code quality for future scanningwithin the distribution chain.

Laetus points out that since the

Inspect WT is able to read dataand provide it as information to adatabase, the system is preparedfor full track and trace capabilitywith OCR and all bar code types.

This is said to be a keyadvantage over those systemsthat can only identify pre-setalpha-numeric characters aseither good or bad.T: 01480 414242E: [email protected]

motion and speeds of 35-40 aminute.

The machine operates withcentre folded film and allowspacks of infinite length and up to700mm wide to be handled.

A pneumatically operated

Teflon coated sealing bar is used onthe cross seal mechanism while theside sealing system consists ofthree sets of wheels for feeding,sealing and removing excess film.T: 01202 674944E: [email protected]

Automatic side-seal wrapper runs at 60 a minute

Code quality: Inspect WT monitors

codes and alpha-numerics

Machinery Update - July-August

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