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Highlights from PACK EXPO

From blister packing to vertical form/fill/seal equipment to a rotary filler designed for gummies, the show had it all. Listen to this podcast hosted by Pat Reynolds to hear it all.


Read article   Read the full transcript below.

Pat Reynolds: Hello, I'm Pat Reynolds of Packaging World Magazine, here with a look at just a few of the new things seen and heard on day one of a very busy Pack Expo International in Chicago. 

At Starview Packagings booth North-5728, one emphasis was on the kind of comprehensive automation that can be brought to a rotary blister packaging system by integrating additional packaging machinery functions. In this case, it was robotic product loading, plus laser coding, and 100% code inspection that were all being bundled with the Starview Machinery. According to Starview's Director of Sales and Marketing Rob van Gilson. The reason for going this route is simple enough; the demand for automation is greater than ever. And it's largely because customers buying Starview equipment want to avoid the hassle of looking for employees to hire. A good example of the strategy Starview is executing was on display at Pack Expo. The Model BSC 18-1418. It's a rotary blister packing machine with 18 stations with a rated speed of about 18 cycles a minute. The sequence of operation is picking and placing of paperboard front card insertion of clear blister into card robotic product bloating thanks to an Omron robot, and then placement of the paperboard backing card. But also integrated into the system is a videojet laser coder and a vision system from chaos to verify each code. As for controls integration that comes courtesy of Omron. According to Van Gilson, the system on display at Pack Expo is headed for a maker of medical devices. 

Food safety, versatility, and a simplified user experience were the key themes at the South-1700 booth of Triangle Package Machinery where the firm introduced its next generation Delta series vertical Form-Fill-Seal Machine. The Delta which delivers zipper packaging for protein produce or frozen food products allows bulky foods to be easily packaged because the bags are held fully open as food is inserted. This fully open mouth of the package also makes for easy access by consumers to the contents inside. And that can include bulky items such as large chicken parts, fresh produce like baby carrots, or even products such as sugar. Consumers can conveniently pour products out of the bag or stick their hand in to access the product or use a scoop inside the bag. Quick Change jobs bring a great deal of versatility where product variety is concerned. Plus the latest enhancements to the platform include a rotatable jaw. This permits the production of three side seal packages, as well as the ability to utilize zipper tape for processors or contract packages that need to change package styles frequently. The Quick Change sealing jaws and rotatable jaw carriage allow conversion from a three sides sealed package to a pillow style in less than 10 minutes and further improving. Quick and easy changeover isn't optional center lining system that allows for fast color coded adjustments. As with all baggers from triangle, the Delta was designed with the sanitary needs of food processors in mind. That means sanitary welds and washed down rated electronics that makes sanitation simple. Additional standard features include a pivoting control box for full machine access, and a quick change 16 sided forming tube. One last note and it would be remiss of me not to mention it Triangle, a machinery builder located in Sweet Home Chicago, this year celebrated its 100th anniversary. Congratulations to all of the triangle stakeholders. 

We often see examples of packaging machinery OEMs, extending a clever feature from one machine to another in their overall lineup. And that's exactly what we saw at Speedy Packagings booth South-2022, where a 12 pocket compact rotary filler made its debut designed to fill gummy products into glass paperboard or plastic containers. At speeds 270 bottles a minute, it retains the main features of Speedy high speed rotary systems. So the new compact system has the same quick change over magnetic funnels that eliminate the need for fasteners and tooless change parts that makes it ideal for various container sizes that require frequent changeover. reaching speeds to 70 bottles a minute. It can fill gummy products into glass paperboard, or plastic containers and easily integrates with a single discharge multi headwear or electronic counter. empty containers are supplied to the speedy rotary on a single lane conveyor and are pushed by line pressure into the servo driven main turret. The containers right up the turret ramp and seal with the container adapters on the bottom of the product transfer funnels. gummies are then dispensed into the field buckets of the patented streaming system. A bottom rail vibration system is radius around the turret to allow for optimal settling time of the product in the container. And that's all for now on day one of Pack Expo International.

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