Materials: Page 666

Flexible packaging

PEF names Eastman Kodak Packaging Leader of the Year

The Packaging Education Forum (PEF) awards Eastman Kodak Co. as its Packaging Leader of the Year 2002-2003.

June 30, 2002

Closures

Grinders add a spicy twist

Grinders, from McCormick & Co., Hunt Valley, MD, enable consumers to add the flavor of fresh-ground spices into their foods.

June 30, 2002

Containers

Prototype wrapper's feeder suits Sara Lee

An automated mini-donut sorting and wrapping system improves efficiency at Sara Lee’s Paris, TX, bakery.

June 30, 2002

Containers

North Side super-sizes packaging value

Higher throughput is in the bag, in this case a large foodservice bag that is automatically filled, sealed, and packed on three new packaging lines. See in-plant video

June 30, 2002

Conveying & accumulation

Clever layout enhances bottling efficiency

At the San Manuel Bottled Water Group’s new plant, one automated line requires just five operators for 350 bpm output. See in-plant video

June 30, 2002

Conveying & accumulation

Frozen Specialties Inc.: Wrapped pizza inspection

Shrink-wrapped pizzas are checked by the first of FSI's two-part pizza inspection system from Cognex. The machine vision sensor is the metal cylinder near the top center of the first video segment.

May 31, 2002

Bag/pouch fill/seal (pre-made bags)

Superior Dairy: Blow molding of plastic milk bottles

At this Ohio dairy manufacturer, one floor above the filling line, HDPE bottles are blown and flash is trimmed. Then bottles are transported through a pneumatic tube to a bagging machine.

May 31, 2002

Flexibles

DuPont to sell Clysar® to Bemis

DuPont agreed to sell its Clysar® shrink film business to the Bemis Co., Inc.

May 31, 2002

Coding, Printing & Labeling

Temporary relief for OTC convenience packs

FDA postpones May deadline for putting Drug Facts label on convenience-size OTC packages.

May 31, 2002

Controls & Machine Components

Hoffman: I/O enclosures

Hoffman (Anoka, MN) has added 10 new enclosure modules for I/O devices to its Inline® Instrumentation Enclosure Series. Full-length mounting brackets welded to the top and bottom of the enclosure provide flexible mounting.

May 31, 2002

Controls & Machine Components

Oriental Motor USA: Brushless DC speed control

AXN Series brushless DC speed control system from Oriental Motor USA (Torrance, CA) develops 125 watts of motor shaft power. The drive and controller are housed in NEMA 4 enclosure.

May 31, 2002

Secondary Packaging

PBI-Dansensor Americ: Networked analyzer

PBI-Dansensor’s (Ringsted, Denmark) in-line oxygen and O2-carbon dioxide gas analyzer has built-in wireless networking capability. Designed for gas or vacuum modified atmosphere thermoforming and tray sealing machines, the unit allows troubleshooting and data transfer via “Blue Tooth”—a wireless networking standard—or standard LAN connections.

May 31, 2002