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Inverter drives cartoner

Econocorp improves the performance of its venerable Spartan cartoner with AC inverter drive technology.

Econocorp's intermittent-motion Spartan cartoner employs a frequency inverter (top) that drives a gear motor (above). These com
Econocorp's intermittent-motion Spartan cartoner employs a frequency inverter (top) that drives a gear motor (above). These com

For nearly 20 years, packagers have relied on Econocorp’s Spartan cartoner. Last year the machine experienced its third major upgrade, adding a 1-hp Kebco alternating current (AC) frequency inverter that drives one 3?4-hp AC gear motor from SEW-Eurodrive.

The frequency inverter varies the megahertz frequency available to the AC gear motor, thus regulating the speed at which the motor operates. It’s the motor that moves chains, cartons, and product from one station to another within the machine.

“Previously we had used a gearbox,” explains Brian Elfast, Econocorp’s vice president of operations. “Attached to the gearbox was a speed reducer, a clutch brake, clutch brake power supply, drive motor, and all the associated chains and linkages required. The acceleration and deceleration of the chains were fixed, the gearbox was noisy, and it had a tendency to require maintenance.”

Elfast says Econocorp wanted to provide its customers with more flexibility in running the machine. “We looked at all servo drives, but they were pricey,” he notes. “AC inverters were relatively expensive three or four years ago, but the pricing has come down, and the accuracy, which is a key, has gone up.”

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