In 2015, Jake Berry and Coley Walsh founded Pyramid Pens, which now operates under the Loud Labs umbrella, a brand selling various formulations of cannabis oil packaged in cartridges that could be used in a host of vaping devices. Using the well-regarded CO2 extraction process, the partners began formulating unique strains and flavors of THC and CBD oils for vaping. In fact, the brand’s innovative attitude toward packaging caught our eye back in 2019, read about what they were doing then, and see how far they’ve come in what follows.
Today Loud Labs markets its Pyramid Pens line of cannabis formulated oils packed in cartridges and pods in Colorado and Michigan and is setting the stage for future expansion into other states. Expansion is a complex process of navigating each state’s individual laws and sales environments. The company offers a total of six oil formulations, each with its own characteristics of potency and flavor, concentrates, distillates, and CBD/THC combinations. The company also offers lines of infused pre-rolls and edibles.
Vape devices, which come in many different shapes, sizes, and technologies, all rely on cartridges filled with oil. Cartridges typically feature .3-, .5-, or 1-g of oil, depending on the type of device. Filling needs to be accurate for the optimum allocation of an expensive oil. 
Heated cannabis oil pours easily into the heated reservoir of the Thompson Duke IZR high-capacity automatic filling machine. On the machine, tooling holding fill-ready cartridges is secured to a Festo EXCM X-Y table. A touchscreen HMI allows the operator to control and optimize the process through a simple menu of commands.
“We would have kilos of compounds coming out of the extractor,” says Berry, CEO. “The compounds would then be mixed into our various formulations to create our unique offerings. And then we sat with small syringes to laboriously draw the oil out of flasks and dispense a specified volume into a cartridge.”
As cannabis oil cools it becomes more viscous and harder to draw and accurately dispense. This oil is sticky, and difficult to work with and clean up. The process of drawing and dispensing via syringe is physically and mentally taxing, not to mention slow and wasteful. Plus, each formulation has a different viscosity that changes the force on drawing and dispensing. Barry says that at best 100 to 200 cartridges per hour can be filled by a diligently working team member. As popularity for the Loud Labs’ formulations increased, the speed at which orders were fulfilled decreased. There was simply too much filling needed in too short of time.
“We wanted to grow a business utilizing our best insights into product development, the market, and customer needs, not spend a big part of the workday filling cartridges by hand,” Berry says.
Loud Labs needed a better way to produce a competitive and affordable product, while maintaining high quality. Automating the process seemed a potential solution. It is important to note, however, that since the industry was in its infancy, automation solutions, good ones at any rate, were not as common as they are in established industries.
In 2018, Berry and Walsh became familiar with Thompson Duke Industrial of Portland, Ore., a wholly owned company of Portland Engineering that’s dedicated to the manufacture and support of automated solutions for filling and capping cannabis-based vape cartridges and pods.
“One thing about designing a cannabis cartridge filling machine that we knew was extremely important was solving the issue of variable viscosity of the oil,” says Chris Gardella, CTO, Thompson Duke Industrial. “Cannabis oil does not behave like any other fluid. Each oil formula will have a different native viscosity. Some formulations may be so thick that the oil will not pour out of the jar at room temperature.”
Anatomy of a vaporizer device filling machine
Filled and sealed cartridges ready for retail packaging in a CR pouch.
At the top of the machine is a 500 mL capacity heater and reservoir. Producers pre-heat their cannabis oil and then introduce the oil into the reservoir, where the temperature is accurately maintained. The clear tube at the bottom of the reservoir provides a path for the oil to the dispense mechanism with a syringe tip. When it is time for a changeover between different oil formulations, the reservoir, tube, check valve, and dispense syringe are quickly removed and replaced with the included spare component set. Changeover between oil formulations takes about a minute. The removed assembly is then cleaned and ready for the next batch.
Heat lamps on goosenecks for easy adjustment keep the oil warm for the extremely short time during flow from the reservoir to dispensing into a cartridge. At the upper center in this image is the dispense syringe operated by two Festo pneumatic cylinders. The upper cylinder raises the plunger to draw the oil into the dispense syringe. Once the proper volume of oil has been drawn into the syringe, the second cylinder lowers the syringe so that the needle is inserted into a cartridge. The plunger is depressed by the pneumatic cylinder and the oil flows into a cartridge. Both pneumatic cylinders are easily adjusted by hand, utilizing mechanical hard stops.
The X-Y table on this IZR machine was originally designed by Festo for the speed and precision of handling samples in laboratory automation. It is extremely precise as it indexes the cartridges below the filling head and is industrially rugged. The EXCM X-Y table, HMI, temperature, pneumatics–everything–is controlled with a small Festo PLC located in the enclosure of the IZR.
The touchscreen HMI allows the operator to control and optimize the process through a simple menu of commands—point and click. All the complex programming is loaded and thoroughly assessed before each unit is shipped. Using a Codesys API, a process performance and reporting system can collect all pertinent data on production and batch traceability, a precursor to the FDA requirements for that level of record keeping.
This LFP pneumatically powered four-ton mouthpiece fastening press operates completely by air pressure, with no electric components. Connect an air compressor to the LFP and begin operation. Operators dial in the required force anywhere between 0.5 and four tons with full variable force control. They close the door and flip the switch to the extend position. The door interlock engages, and operation begins. Flip the switch to the retract position, the press retracts, and the door interlock releases. Once again, Thompson Duke combines rugged industrial components and ease of use for customers seeking the benefits of automation.
