Controls & Machine Components

Rockwell Automation: Rockwell Automation: Indexing servo drives

Rockwell Automation/Electro-Craft (Eden Prairie, MN) has added indexing functionality to its BRU-Series Advantage Line family of digital servo drives.

January 31, 1998

Cosmetics/Personal care: Page 116

Protective/transport packaging

Reusable PVC clamshells short-circuit waste for Lucent (sidebar)

Bellcore rules: Setting the spec

January 31, 1998

Controls & Machine Components

A window into the packaging line

Amway's graphical human-machine interface for an entire packaging line reduces troubleshooting time by 75%.

January 31, 1998

Converting equipment

Label livens line of indoor tanning products

Redesigned packaging played a key role in taking the Black Gold line of indoor tanning products from limited distribution in the Midwest to national and even international distribution.

January 31, 1998

Conveying & accumulation

Packaging machines speak up

Amway squeezes more efficiency out of a personal care packaging line by allowing packaging machines to communicate with one another over a PLC network. Benefits include tighter line integration, faster troubleshooting and reduced wiring costs.

January 31, 1998

Cosmetics/Personal care

Measuring guide

A free glue line measuring guide is available from National Starch and Chemical (Edison, NJ). The pocket-size guide enables corrugated box makers to ensure that their glue lines are precise from 0.040" to 0.110", in 0.010" increments.

January 31, 1998

Contract Packaging

Lucky in cans

A spin-off from Lucky(TM) Brand Dungarees, Lucky Brand Fragrances started reaching store shelves in October. The line uses unusual secondary packaging, spiral-wound composite cans, to carry through brand image.

January 31, 1998

Closures

Oval bottle

Plastic Bottle Corp. (Libertyville, IL) has come out with a new line of bottles called Laura Ovals for the cosmetics and health and beauty markets. The three sizes include a 2-oz PVC bottle with a 20/415 neck finish or a 20-mm tall finish that accommodates a linerless threaded closure; a 4-oz PVC bottle with a 24/415 neck finish; and an 8-oz bottle produced in PVC or OPET with either a 24/410 or 24/415 neck finish.

December 31, 1997

Closures

Neck rings

Designed to be an inexpensive way to dress up conventional finger spray and lotion pump bottles, SeaquistPerfect Dispensing (Cary, IL) has introduced its decorative neck rings.

December 31, 1997

Blisters/clamshells/thermoforming materials

Combo checkweigher/metal detectors save space for Keebler

Compact and highly accurate, combo checkweighers and metal detectors at Keebler's Macon, GA, bakery are meeting special needs.

December 31, 1997

Beverage

Packages 'understand' people, says Hine

The relationships people have with packages are more complex than they realize. They're both intimate and emotional, says author and noted design critic Thomas Hine in the foreword of his book The Total Package: The Secret History and Hidden Meanings of Boxes, Bottles, Cans, and Other Persuasive Containers (Back Bay Books).

December 31, 1997

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Gillette bets on pressurized plastic bottle

The initial mass-market application of an innovative pressurized dispensing system permits Gillette to offer a shave gel in a plastic container for the first time.

December 31, 1997

Conveying & accumulation

Grace-and speed-under pressure

Amway's new pressure-netweigh filler increases speed and accuracy for viscous personal care products. Unscrambler offers gentle handling, cuts down on jams and provides 15-minute changeover.

December 31, 1997