Nuspark makes custom packaging standard

Engineers comprise fully 25% of the staff of Nuspark Inc. And that’s not surprising when you learn that 60% of their business is customized packaging systems.

The Toronto based firm offers both turnkey packaging solutions and individual machines that include cartoners, collating infeed systems, robotics, container and pouch fillers, case erector/sealers and palletizers.

Inventive, compact systems

Their hallmark is exceptionally compact, efficient equipment based on inventive mechanical and servo-driven designs.

For example, at 3’ x 3’, their vertical cartoner is the industry’s smallest. It is a rotary design with an 80 cpm output with a minimum carton size of ½” L x ½” W x 2”D and a maximum of 6”L x 4”W x 15”D.

Their 25 cpm case erector/bottom sealer uses a mechanical opening technology instead of vacuum, allowing it to reliably run corrugate of any surface characteristic or quality. It features tool-less changeover and can be coupled with a gantry pick-and-place module and top sealing station.

Thanks to its highly compact gantry configuration, a 14 cpm palletizer takes up less than 6’ x 7’ of floor space, and is only 6’ tall – yet handles 4’ square pallets.

Integrating the equipment into a packaging system are Nuspark infeed systems that transport, collate, orient, buffer, stack and load all manner of products, gently and rapidly, to effectively accommodate even unstable or fragile items.

Leveraging ELAU automation for packaging

On Nuspark’s floor the day of Packaging Automation magazine’s visit were a number of projects being automated with ELAU’s PacDrive™ servo technology. After evaluating the technology, management recognized that the PacDrive automation controller eliminates the need for a PLC and that the system has many packaging-specific functionalities built-in.

Customized applications are facilitated through Nuspark engineering approaches and ELAU software libraries.

For example, Nuspark is currently developing a 2-axis delta robotic collating and case packing system for bottles for PACK EXPO introduction. The concept is ideal for the product size, throughput and changeover requirements of the cosmetics, personal care and pharmaceutical industries.

The machine frame is designed to allow mounting of one or two arms, making it possible to double the systems’ capacity without increasing the machine’s footprint.

Likewise, ELAU’s modular software approach includes some 400 IEC-conforming software objects for various functions, including robotic kinematics and servo collating belts that can be parameterized for format changes, so that changeovers can be recipe driven from the operator panel.

Using these pre-engineered software building blocks makes Nuspark’s customized packaging systems that much more efficient, consistent and economical to develop and own.

About Nuspark

Nuspark Inc. is a leading manufacturer of specialized precision machinery for the packaging, food, plastics, beverage, automotive, high tech and automation industries, with full service capabilities in mechanical, electrical, design, research & development engineering.

For more information, www.nuspark.com

About ELAU

ELAU equips over $1 billion worth of the world’s best machines annually, with over 35,000 PacDrive systems already deployed in packaging machinery worldwide. PacDrive is the first truly integrated automation architecture, capable of performing the functions of PLC, motion control, robotics, temperature control, PLS, MES data interface and more in a single, standards-based software environment.

For more information, visit www.elau.com or email info@elau.com.