Blisters/clamshells/skin packaging

Vend packs turn to new materials for new markets

Designed initially for vending sales, a new material blend permits skin-packed frozen Mini Meals for microwave heating to expand into diverse outlets.

June 30, 1996

Secondary Packaging: Page 283

Flexible packaging

Preventive medicine for pharmaceutical producer

CPSC regulations caused pharmaceutical manufacturer Chattem, Inc., to update packaging for its menstrual pain relief products. Line changes included a rebuild-instead of a purchase-of a cartoner to help expedite the switch.

June 30, 1996

Converting equipment

Shaping technology injects market excitement in metal cans

Until a couple of years ago, American packagers using cans seemed satisfied with the straight sidewall profile and functionality of most metal cans. The cans were strong, easy to fill and seam, and offered a number of labeling, case packing and stacking options.

June 30, 1996

Secondary Packaging

FTC not playing with Toys 'R' Us

The Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has charged toy industry retail giant Toys 'R' Us with exacting heavy-handed agreements from toy manufacturers that dictate how toys should be packaged for different accounts.

June 30, 1996

Secondary Packaging

Easy-open pack for bundles

Bundles of six 2-L water bottles from Perrier/Vittel, Paris, France, get an easy-open feature thanks to a new multilayer shrink film with directional tear resistance.

June 30, 1996

Secondary Packaging

Case/tray packing system

The Casestar Model 808SF from Rockford Midland (Rockford, IL) is designed to case-pack multiple layers of small products in a variety of configurations.

May 31, 1996

Secondary Packaging

Clear container sensor

The CCS Series adaptive clear-container photoelectic sensor from Honeywell's Micro Switch Div. (Freeport, IL) senses glass and plastic containers at a rate of 2ꯠ/min.

May 31, 1996

Feeding/inserting/unscrambling

Vertical case packer

The vertical case packer from Schneider Packaging Equipment (Brewerton, NY) can top- or bottom-load products of any shape into RSCs, HSCs, overlapping or display cases.

May 31, 1996

Secondary Packaging

Overhead stretch wrapper

Signode's (Glenview, IL) SpiralGrip(TM) 7150 automatic stretch wrapping system has automatic load staging, centering and height sensing to ensure that loads remain securely wrapped.

May 31, 1996

Secondary Packaging

Robotic palletizer

Model A730 robotic palletizer from Columbia/Okura (Vancouver, WA) can accommodate multiple products and production lines. This vertical, multi-articulated palletizer has a 300° radius of movement.

May 31, 1996

Conveying & accumulation

Unloader, orienter speed Seagram's glass flask line

Automated uncasing speeds output and reduces costs for 375-mL glass flasks. Quick-change bottle orienter aligns bottles for downstream functions.

May 31, 1996

Conveying & accumulation

Blue Diamond shines with new case handling system

From case setup to case taping, corrugated cases are automatically guided through a "smart" handling system, part of which is hoisted out of the way when 1겨-lb totes are running.

May 31, 1996

Conveying & accumulation

PET water bottles flow through filling

AquaPenn rinses, fills and caps PET bottles on a bloc system twice as fast as a former line, producing 1/2-L and 20-oz bottles of spring water. Improved bottle handling slashes downtime, resulting in a nearly 20% increase in efficiency.

May 31, 1996