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Send to KindleStreamlined shrink wrapping of breakfast sandwiches
Auto-Spacing™ is used to separate randomly-spaced incoming cartons for wrapping. A photoeye is mounted above the infeed conveyor, which detects the front and rear edges of the incoming cartons and spaces them an exact distance apart for wrapping. With Auto-Spacing control, horizontal as well as vertical photoeyes, and the ability to precisely vary the conveyor speeds to relax the film between products, Williams Sausage’s new shrink wrapping system can accommodate randomly-fed cartons and accurately separate them for reliable, consistent packaging using the absolute minimum amount of film.
The cartons are manually placed on the conveyor and automatically indexed just before they enter the shrink wrapper. If the line is running boxes with ten different lengths, they can be put back-to-back on the conveyor without worrying about spacing. The wrapper spaces the variable-length cartons with automatic standard gapping.
To negate the problem of ice build-up and belt slippage, which can affect registration, Texwrap embossed some of the wrapper’s surfaces with little bumps to minimize the slick surface-effect. Also, special freeze-resistant valves were utilized on its air cylinders. The wrapper can run either flat or center-folded film, including a wide range of polyolefin, polyethylene, PVC and some polypropylene based films.
To support the shrink wrapper, a Texwrap Model 1432 CR shrink tunnel was added to the line. This single-chamber forced air convection tunnel uses large volumes of high velocity air to impart the necessary energy to the film for the best shrink package. The tunnel is equipped with digital temperature controls, high velocity fans, individual top and bottom controls for air direction, and variable-speed conveyors. These features control the right amount of heat to be put in the right places, over the correct amount of time to produce consistent shrink results.
Because the popularity of its breakfast sandwiches is continuing to grow, Williams Sausage is now planning another upgrade to its sandwich lines by again expanding its shrink packaging capability. “This new system will be equipped with servo-controls which will allow us an even higher level of line throughput and performance,” Ray says. “We are looking at another Texwrap, because our current shrink wrap system has proven to be such a good investment for us.” —Jim McMahon
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