Conveying & accumulation

X-ray vision checks inside chocolates boxes

Thorntons in the U.K. uses X-ray scanning equipment to inspect foil-wrapped and boxed chocolates. Software upgrade detects missing chocolates.

November 30, 2001

Secondary Packaging: Page 244

Conveying & accumulation

A line that's loaded with smarts

Latrobe Brewing Co.’s new line for 12-oz glass bottles of Rolling Rock beer is a textbook illustration of SCADA in action. Analysis of data is equally impressive.

November 30, 2001

Conveying & accumulation

Controls implemented Nature's Way (sidebar)

Line overview

November 30, 2001

Conveying & accumulation

Controls implemented Nature's Way

On a line filling 1- and 2.5-gal containers, a networked modem has already saved more than $10ꯠ by allowing remote troubleshooting by vendors. The network includes seven HMIs and nine PLCs.

November 30, 2001

Conveying & accumulation

Labeler proves 'berry, berry' good for Fabri-Kal

A new clamshell labeling system increases speed while reducing labor costs and downtime at the Greenville, SC, plant of thermoformer Fabri-Kal.

October 31, 2001

Conveying & accumulation

New line boasts new sterilizing technology

Adelholzener of Germany is leading the charge when it comes to popularizing one-way plastic beverage bottles in a region that has long resisted this package format.

October 31, 2001

Secondary Packaging

Upset over inserts

New FDA demands for package inserts would bloat printing requirements and force some products to add outer cartons.

October 31, 2001

Conveying & accumulation

Side-sealed and delivered

A manufacturer of crown molding invests in a horizontal shrink wrapper that delivers better protective packaging and tamper evidence.

October 31, 2001

Palletizing/depalletizing

Nature's Way Purewater: Depalletizing

On this bottled water line, one of two robots from Custom Metal Designs depalletizes bagged layers of 1-gal containers and places them onto the infeed of the debagging system. The output of each of the twin units is nearly two LDPE-bagged layers/min, or a total of 180 containers/min.

September 30, 2001

Conveying & accumulation

Nature's Way Purewater: Lane dividing and case packing

On this bottled water line, servo-operated lane divider directs the jugs from one lane into three lanes ahead of continuous motion case packing. The case packer, from Douglas Machine, meters jugs via paddles to a cam-operated arm that pushes three atop the folded blank, which is erected by vacuum pick-and-place cups.

September 30, 2001

Secondary Packaging

Nature's Way Purewater: Stretch wrapping

On this bottled water line, pallet loads are unitized by an overhead-style stretch wrapper from ITW Mima using 20-ft-wide film. This model at Nature's Way wraps at speeds to one pallet every 12 seconds.

September 30, 2001

Secondary Packaging

Latrobe Brewing Co.: Depalletizing

At this Rolling Rock brewery, an automatic band cutter cuts eight bands before pallets are conveyed into the depalletizer. Once in the depalletizer, slip sheets are removed and stacked automatically.

September 30, 2001

Secondary Packaging

Latrobe Brewing Co.: Case erecting and loading

At this Rolling Rock brewery, at the infeed of a case erector from Pearson Packaging Systems, a robotic positioner picks bundles of 12-count corrugated shippers, orients the bundle, cuts the band, and feeds the band to a grinder.

September 30, 2001