First Glance – June 2008

IN TOP FORM
The new Model 65 tray-former from A-B-C Packaging Machine Corporation is a compact machine designed to help packagers reduce their overall corrugated consumption with features such as an adjustable forming and sealing section that ensures square trays with straight vertical sidewalls for easy tray-packing and stable palletizing, helped with an on-board mandrel that provides complete tray compression for maximum adhesive bonding and secure load handling. Boasting a heavy-duty steel frame and all-mechanical drive, this workhorse of a machine—rated to form up to 30 trays per minute—is outfitted with sealed bearings, lubricated air cylinders, and a Venturi vacuum system for reduced maintenance requirements and optimal ease-of-use.

SHAPING THE FUTURE
Silgan Containers Corp. has expanded its shaped-can manufacturing capabilities with the launch of the company’s Sculptured Metal Technology brand of metal cans—designed to provide packagers with a noticeable metal container alternative that can help them enhance or restage their product’s image without having to invest in new filling equipment, according to the company. Silgan says it has dedicated significant resources to understanding how metal cans could be made more contemporary-looking to meet specific customer shaping needs, acquiring significant production capabilities to create shaped cans—in both aluminum and steel, in premium-niche and high-volume runs—that can give brand-owners a significant advantage in product differentiation on the grocery shelves.

TOP GUNS
Nordson Corporation has launched two new high-speed, rapid-cycling liquid adhesive dispensing electric guns designed to increase the efficiency and productivity of production processes and deliver more consistent, high-quality bonding of materials, according to the company. The Nordson LA 825 RC electric guns feature elongated, reduced-cavity nozzles that make them very well-suited for the small adhesive quantities, intermittent application, and high line speeds found in folding-carton production, while Nordson LA 825 electric guns are equipped with special features that make them extremely handy for use across a range of paper and paperboard converting industries. Boasting narrow gun profiles and multiple-gun configurations for optimal application flexibility, both types of new applicators are designed to maintain consistent bead length in high-speed intermittent production, while also featuring a 250 Hz continuous-cycle rate, sharp adhesive cutoff and clean operation, as well as an improved stroke adjustment to ensure a highly-accurate, consistent flow of the adhesive.

MAGNETIC APPEAL
The new model XR-41 X-Ray inspection system from Eriez Magnetics is designed specifically for high-speed inspection of larger packaged products—specifically the foreign body detection of metal, glass, calcified bone and PVC—as well as for inspecting packages for mass and missing and/or defective objects. Featuring a 15-inch color touchscreen interface, stainless-steel construction and a fully-automated set-up, the system is available in six different models to fit virtually any application requirement, according to the company, while its external connectors can be easily networked as an SQL Client with full remote-support facilities.

THE FINER PRINT
The new PA1200t label printer-applicator from Tharo Systems, Inc. is designed as cost-effective accessory that will enable users of the popular Zebra Z4Mplus and Datamax I-Class of thermal/thermal-transfer barcode label printers into full-fledged print-and-apply systems with minimal adjustment, extremely quick set-up, and easy changeover for applying labels to the top or side of varying-height products, according to the company. Featuring all-metal construction and outfitted with time-tested components for long-lasting service life, the PA1200t is equipped with a heavy-duty cylinder to compensate for high stress in side-labeling, with minimal deflection, when using a conveyor. Available in fully-automatic and semi-automatic versions, the PA1200t can apply up to 40 labels per minute, according to Tharo Systems, depending on the printer used, label size, and the height of the product.

MARATHON RUN
The new Marathon SLA rollfed labeler from B&H Labeling Systems combines the company’s field-proven Marathon SL technology with a complete Allen-Bradley drive-train and controls platform consisting of servo drives, servo motors, a programmable logic controller (PLC), a human-machine interface (HMI) and reconfigured electrical control cabinets. Designed for easy operation and maintenance, as well as maximum reliability and uptime, the Marathon SLA is particularly well-suited for low- to mid-speed operations in the handling of containers—ranging from eight ounces to three liters in size—at speeds of 50 to 250 containers per minute, with speeds of up to 450 containers per minute possible with a few added options. The labeler’s advanced digital design helps to speed up product changeovers significantly, according to the company, thanks to the storing of all the key operating parameters in a recipe database and the downloading for each container and label combination. Moreover, the system’s four-axis SMARTdrive servo motor drive-train, with automatic label registration and timing, enables the Marathon SLA to maintain optimal positional accuracy over the life of the machine, while reducing the changeover time to less than 15 minutes from one full production speed to the next.

UPLIFTING NEWS
The new Anver VT-Series vacuum tube lifter from Anver Corporation features an all-new articulated head to pick up and reorient boxes to speed workflow in general warehousing and shipping applications, thanks to a 90-degree tilt mechanism that lets users pick up boxes weighing up to 50 pounds, under vacuum, and mechanically reorient them for loading and unloading conveyors. Featuring hand vacuum controls for picking up and releasing the boxes with a lever, the ergonomically-designed Anver VT-Series provides users with a 100-percent continuous- duty cycle, according to the company, and it comes fully-equipped with a heavy-duty pump, vacuum gauge, wire-reinforced tube, and a quick-connect coupling to accept a variety of different vacuum pad attachments.

BLISTERING SPEEDS
The new B1660 blister packaging machine from Uhlmann Packaging Systems, LP is a high-performance system—offered in either continuous- or intermittent-motion configurations­­—boasting a diverse range of productivity-enhancing features, including an all-new SimTap 3 feeder for simultaneous tablet placement; high operating speeds of up to 700 blisters per minute; generous maximum format area of 280×284 mm; an on-board touchscreen interface with three-dimensional visualization capabilities; a quiet ‘Whisper’ operating mode; a quick-change tool system; controlled discharge of waste air and heat for cleanroom environments; and a robust production data acquisition system for fast process analysis. Moreover, the high-speed B1660 machine features a specially-engineered, integrated process for blister transfer to the cartoner, according to the company, which yields notable space and cost savings by elimina
ting the need for an additional product chain in the cartoner.

ROLL WITH IT
The new multidirectional ERGO-ROLL conveyor roller from Ergotech, Inc. is structured around four free-turning, football-shaped roller elements, positioned in a 90-degree staggered pattern around the perimeter of a main wheel hub, in an innovative roller arrangement that generates nine individual rotating turning axles, when paired into a duplex-wheel configuration. Because the 1.9-inch-diameter roller is made out of a self-lubricating plastic composite, the roller works equally well in wet applications and does not require maintenance or lubrication to ensure long service-life, according to the company, while the roller’s open construction also allows dirt to gravitate through its structure.

COLOR YOUR WORLD
Teknor Color Company has released a new range of color concentrates formulated specifically for use with the polylactic acid (PLA) resins in order to help manufacturers of packaging, bags, liners, and other extruded or molded products to meet the growing consumer demand for biodegradable goods made with renewable resources. The new range comprises three series of colorants for use in clear or opaque bottles, films, sheets, profiles and injection molded items, with the main differences related to their carrier resins, including: PLA-carrier concentrates for use in all biodegradable applications; biodegradable co-polyester-carrier concentrates with a petrochemical carrier resin, for use in biodegradable blown film and other applications requiring greater flexibility; and the PETek series PET-carrier concentrates for non-degradable applications in toys, housewares, etc.