First Glance – April 2010

Pumping It Out

The new model NERPS/NERPC rotary pump sorter/capper from New England Machinery, Inc. features an innovative new design that eliminates the need for a follow-up cap tightener by having the pump capper itself applying the correct torque right upon placement of the pump onto the container—eliminating the need for a second machine, while also ensuring the positive guidance of the dip tube while inserting it into the container, according to the company. The new machine is also capable of straightening the dip tube curvature up to one-third of its overall length, while handling an extended range of containers and/or pump combinations—finger, lotion and trigger, as well as non-pump caps—and ensuring positive pump placement and positive torque control process throughout the operation.

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Worth Checking Out

The new XC3 CombiChecker system from Mettler-Toledo Hi-Speed—designed as a cost-effective integrated product inspection solution—is a compact, economical, combination Hi-Speed checkweigher and Safeline metal detector integrated onto one  free-standing unit for inspecting a wide range of products and packages in dry, dusty and wipe-down environments with superior reliability and precision. Engineered for reliable detection and rejection of all types of metals, the XC3 can also weigh, classify and segregate uniformly spaced packages weighing up to 3,500 grams at rates up to 125 packs per minute, according to the company, with its 300-mm-wide conveyor configuration making it well-suited ideal for operators requiring the production flexibility to run both narrow and wide packages. Available with single- or dual-frequency versions for maximum inspection flexibility for a wide range of products with superior sensitivity, the XC3 is operated via a color touchscreen, dashboard-style display providing intuitive, menu-driven access to basic checkweigher functions, while the system’s four adjustable, stainless-steel feet facilitate quick-and-easy machine installation with minimal downtime.

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In Top Form

The new METSFT PE formable lidding film from Brentwood Plastics Inc. is engineered to offer a cost-saving alternative to formable nylon and multilayer co-extruded films in non-barrier packaging applications—including tray liners, drug mailers, medical devices, frozen meat packs, electronic components, etc.—as well as for packaging that requires deep-draw thermoforming, dimpled surfaces, and a higher melt strength than offered by the PET, PLA and EVOH film structures. Engineered to run on high-speed horizontal form/fill/seal (H/F/F/S) machines, the corona-treated FDA– and Kosher-approved film—said to have passed numerous toxicity tests for prolonged and direct human skin contact—is available in thicknesses from four- to 13-mil, and it can be printed using both water- and solvent-based inks, along with application of various tamper evident features for extra product protection and integrity.

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The Finest Print

The new model Wolke m600 thermal inkjet printer (TIP) from Videojet Technologies Inc. is an advanced printing system designed to address complex product-coding requirements in the pharmaceutical, health-and-beauty, tobacco, and other industrial markets by enabling quick and reliable generation of high-speed, high-resolution coding of serialized data and many types of barcodes, including GS1 DataMatrix, for full compliance with track-and-trace applications. Boasting multi-processor architecture and flexible communications options, the Wolke m600 printer can be integrated into a broad range of process control systems, according to Videojet, with its advanced communication capabilities enabling full integration in compliance with 21 CFR Part 11 guidelines for maintaining electronic data records for FDA-regulated industries.

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Sorting It Out

The new Crisplant range of tilt-tray and cross-belt sortation systems from Intelligrated—available as stand-alone sub-systems or as parts of larger automated material handling systems—are designed to combine high-capacity unit sortation with smooth operation and scalable footprints to meet a wide range of high-speed, high-capacity, high accuracy product flow applications in the retail, apparel, footwear, pharmaceutical, publishing, jewelry, postal and parcel-delivery applications, according to the company. Featuring energy-efficient linear synchronous motors, variable-speed drives and ‘smart’ machine controls, the Crisplant loop-sorters are claimed to provided a perfect complement to Intelligrated’s existing portfolio of high-speed sliding-shoe, stripbelt and pop-up wheel sorters—along with the related software, controls, induction and chute solutions—for designing optimal, custom-tailored, application-specific sortation systems.

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Fit To Plant

The FoxJet SoloSeries 45 industrial printer from Harlund Industries—designed for high-resolution, one- or two-line printing of variable product information on porous or non-porous surfaces—is offered with fully-featured software that includes built-in auto-codes for date, time, count and expiration data, with its innovative ink level detection technology on cartridges helping ensure optimal print quality. Featuring a convenient p
urge button for easy cleaning of the cartridge, the FoxJet SoloSeries 45 system boasts a compact, rugged enclosure with a hinged cover to protect the pen and to allow for easy replacement, with its in/out port allowingfor daisy-chaining of up to four printheads.

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Easy Reading

Said to be priced nearly the same as standard laser scanners, the new DataMan 100 QL and DataMan 200 QL fixed-mount, 1D (one-dimensional) barcode readers from Cognex Corporation offer far more powerful scanning capabilities by incorporating the company’s new Cognex 1DMax code-reading algorithm, which enables them to read even the low-contrast, blurred, damaged, distorted, partly obscured, etc. barcodes, with a simple software upgrade making them able to read 2D (two-dimensional) Data Matrix barcodes. Easy to deploy in virtually any environment by using the readers’ Setup Tool program, which includes an image archiving feature for storing images of read failures and downloading them to a PC in order to diagnose the root cause of a problem.

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Higher Payload

Denso Corporation has increased the payload capacity of its XR-Series four-axis, compact gantry robots from three to five kilograms to handle a significantly wider applications range, according to the company. Featuring a ceiling-mounted, flexible SCARA robot combined with a long-stroke Cartesian robot, the XR-Series robots are claimed to require up to 40 per cent less floorspace than the conventional SCARA robots, with their highly-efficient, integrated design also enabling their use in many applications without a conveyor. With a reach ranging from 200-mm to 300-mm, an X axis stroke of 850-mm to 1,660-mm, and a cycle-time of 0.53 seconds, the upgraded XR-Series robots can be employed across a broad range of automated dispensing, material handling, assembly and parts feeding applications.