Cultured products in cups
Upstate Niagara Coop's. new state-of-the-art cultured products plant in West Seneca, NY, has eight filling lines running an assortment of plastic cup sizes containing from 4 oz to 5 lb of product. The plant's newest and fastest packaging line runs mainly 4-oz cups at up to 600 cups/min. The line can also run 5-, 6- and 8-oz cups if required.
Jack Mans -- Packaging Digest, 3/1/2011 2:46:00 PM
Five years ago, Upstate Niagara Cooperative Inc. built a new state-of-the-art cultured products plant on 19 acres of land in West Seneca, NY, 
Stacks of cups are placed in the feeder, which tilts forward to load the cups into the filler.
southeast of Buffalo, as a solution for long-term growth and industry competitiveness. The new plant offers 175,000 sq ft of space with an additional 40,000 sq ft of mezzanine and can handle more than 100 million lb of cultured dairy products annually.
The West Seneca plant has eight filling lines running an assortment of plastic cup sizes containing from 4 oz to 5 lb of product. In our December, 2010 issue, Packaging Digest told our readers about specialized end-of-line packing systems installed on three of those lines. This month we are describing the plant's newest and fastest packaging line
To start the operation, stacks of cups are placed in an 8-lane feeder when it is in its loading position. When the machine runs low on cups, the feeder tilts into the vertical position and places about 100 cups into each of the vertical magazines on the machine. Cups are dispensed into the cavities in the carrying conveyor during the stopped portion of each cycle.
Vacuum cups swing down to pick up individual die-cut lids and then swing over and place the lids on the cups.ave another one on order for a new line that we are installing, so obviously we are very satisfied with these machines," says maintenance supervisor Bob Lemke.
The eight lanes of cups leaving the filler are consolidated into four lanes and then enter an Infinity accumulation system from Garvey Corp. that provides about four min. of holding time. "We installed this accumulator to keep the filler running during down-stream stoppages," says Lemke. "It doesn't compensate for a long shutdown, but it gives us about four minutes of accumulation, which is enough for most stoppages that we experience."
The Garvey Infinity system is a loop conveyor system with an integrated single filer. The table has four lanes and there are gates and a sensor on each lane. Under normal running conditions, the Infinity table is empty.
The plant has four robotic palletizers running product from four lines. The palletizers handle either wrapped bundles or cases.the table will feed the accumulated cups back onto the main conveyor.
Four lanes of cups leave the accumulator and pass two Videojet Excel 273se printers with dual printheads-one for each of the four lanes. "We need the two printers to keep up with the 600 cup/min line speed," says Lemke.
The cups then travel to an intermittent-motion wraparound Axiom IM case packer from Douglas Machine Inc. The machine was placing 48 4-oz cups in a case during PD's visit, but it can run other pack patterns depending on what size cups the plant is running.
In this case, the cups are aligned into four lanes as they enter the machine. Fingers stop them when they reach the pickup area, where a system of vacuum cups swings over and picks up 12 cups at a time. The system swings back and stacks them on the flat case blank. This is repeated three more times so that four layers (48 cups) are on the blank. The machine then wraps the blank around the cups and glues the flaps with a Nordson Corp. Pro Blue hot melt glue system.
From the case packer, the cases travel past a print-and-apply labeler from CTM Labeling Systems that is equipped with a printer from Sato America Inc. They are then conveyed to a robotic palletizing operation.
The plant has four Model M-410 palletizers from Fanuc Robotics America Inc. Each handles the ouput from two lines. The palletizers handle wrapped bundles or cases, depending on what products are being run. The finished pallets are then stretch wrapped by two machines.
Casepacker has 21 servos
The Axiom IM case/tray packer from Douglas Machine Inc. is one of the most automated machines in the industry. Capable of speeds to 45 cases/min. and equipped with 21 servo drives, the Axiom IM combines high-speed operation with gentle, servo precision. Direct drives minimize the use of chains, belts and gears, and the virtual handwheel allows maintenance to cycle and test sections of the machine. The auto-flight adjustment option uses two servo motors on the flight chains rather than air cylinder adjustments to eliminate manual changeovers.
Wraparound case packer was placing 48 4-oz cups in a case during PD’s visit. Four layers are stacked on top of each other to accommodate the 48 cups.lane mergers and dividers for applications where package shapes and/or sizes prevent them being flood or mass fed. With this system, an assigned number of products are smoothly fed to metering systems that require balanced product lanes. In addition, a recirculating conveyor with strategically placed photoeye controls can be installed for product flow to reduce pressure and minimize damaged product.
The Axion IM redefines the role of collating in high efficiency lines. It brings improved line throughput and increased product volume while providing stable product handling. The machine's Velocity II high-speed product stacker gently forms stacked-product patterns without interruption, providing continuous product flow at speeds to 600 products/min. Benefits include an increased flexibility for running different product heights, while still providing tool-free changeovers with an intuitive control panel.
The servo driven loader's precision loading control delivers a smooth, reliable operation during case loading, while maintaining accurate product control with a variety of pack patterns. This provides quick and repeatable changeovers, greater speed, gentler product handling and increased flexibility.
Other contributors to increased efficiency are the consistent and dependable case/tray compressions. Flap traps and minor flap tuckers are servo driven to precisely control their speed and timing, which is the best method for folding at the flap score line.
Servo driven flap traps operate consistently at all speeds in one of the most critical areas impacting efficiency. Four corner case control squares the leading and trailing walls of the case just prior to case sealing and compression. Again, servo control of the squaring quarantees precise operations.
The PLC-controlled Axiom IM with its touch-screen HMI makes package changeovers quick and easy. Most changeovers are accomplished through a simple menu-driven process in which product recipes automatically control precise adjustments throughout the machine.
Operators simply select from pre-programmed recipes for specific product, and servo motors precisely make the required adjustments. In addition, one-touch jam clearing is accomplished through the HMI by automated manipulations of compression components to quickly and efficiently clear the affected area.
Berry Plastics Corp., 812/424-2904. www.berryplastics.com
CTM Labeling Systems, 330/332-1800. www.ctmint.com
Douglas Machine Inc., 320/763-6587. www.douglas-machine.com
Garvey Corp., 800/257-8581. www.garvey.com
Fanuc Robotics America Inc., 847-898-6000. www.fanucrobotics.com
Modern Packaging Inc., 631/595-2437. www.modernpackaginginc.com
Nordson Corp., 770/497-3700. www.nordson.com
Sato America Inc., 704/644-1650. www.satoamerica.com
Videojet Technologies Inc., 800/843-3610. www.videojet.com/usa
Wulftec Intl., 819/838-4232. www.wulftec.com
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