The coming out party for a new breed of linear servo motors appears to have been Pack Expo International 2012. At that show, American machine builders R.A. Jones & Co. and KHS Bartelt each exhibited a machine using the Jacobs Automation Intelligent iTRAK® system with Rockwell Automation controls. In addition, Beckhoff introduced its XTS eXtended Transport System, a similar motor, expected to produce application examples in Europe within the next 12 months.
The R.A. Jones application called IndeCart® 2 was the transfer device between an incoming product stream and a Legacy continuous motion end load cartoner. The device accepts incoming product with random spacing and syncs it into the machine within a very small footprint. This machine is considered a test platform by Jones and has not been sold. The KHS application was integrated into its Innopouch K400 simplex/duplex horizontal form-fill-seal machine, creating a pitchless machine that allows each pouch to be independently controlled throughout its journey within the machine. With some modifications since the show, this machine is on its way to a customer.
