Robot
The Presto D2 flexible robot, for top loading or feed placing, allows for increased speeds of up to 500 products/min. and can support high production volumes with a small footprint. The robot is ideally suited for handling food products such as biscuits, cookies and bakery products, and nonfood items such as medical goods, the co. says. The robot picks up a group of products from a collation chain and top loads them into various types of containers, including trays, cartons and cases, or directly feeds the products into conveyors or infeed chains of wrappers and side-load cartoners. The robot features standardized machine modules and a reduced number of parts to facilitate ease of maintenance and reduce spare part costs, the co. states.

Bosch Packaging, 715/246-6511.
www.boschpackaging.com

Depalletizer
The newly designed Plastic Case Stack De-Palletizing System depalletizes three to four dairy pallets/min., each with up to nine layers of empty plastic dairy cases, for a maximum throughput rate of 180-cases/min. Capable of handling stacks palletized, unitized or a combination of both, the depalletizer design uses a clamp-and-lift technology to maintain full stack control, eliminating the concern of stack tipping. All components of the system are constructed of stainless steel materials, ideal for washdown environments found in the dairy, beverage and bakery industries where uniform plastic case stacks are handled, the co. states.

Westfalia Technologies Inc., 800/673-2522.
www.westfaliaUSA.com

Cartoner
The co. introduces the Eclipse robotic infeed that handles blister cards at 300 cards/min. The system provides collation and interleaving of cards to reduce carton space, saving on shipping and paperboard costs. Product is accepted randomly from the upstream equipment, collated and placed while maintaining positive control of the product. Coding and vision inspection is done in the cartoner, rather than externally, saving valuable plant floor space, the co. states. The co.'s intermittent-motion cartoner runs at speeds up to 90 cartons/min. and handles cartons up to 10-in. wide x 4.5-in. deep. The system features a "walk in" style design for ease of operator interface and a state-of-the art HMI and motion control package, the co. states.

MGS Machine Corp., 800/790-0627.
www.mgsmachine.com

Tray former
The co.'s air pneumatic tray formers are designed to run extensive ranges of corrugated tray designs such as: produce, citrus, bliss, showcase, display and more. Able to produce a large tray size range at speeds up to 22 trays/min. in a compact footprint, quick changeover is standard on all tray former models and the extended hopper option can be easily loaded for continuous production. Built with a heavy duty, welded steel tubular frame and low maintenance drive, the tray former includes sealed ball bearings in the blank transfer section with self-cleaning tracks and uses Venturi vacuum technology to extract trays from the hopper.

Eagle Packaging Machinery, 305/622-4070.
www.eaglepm.com

Ink jet printer
The co. releases its RX Series of small-character ink jet printers. Features of the printers include an innovative ink circulation system for low operation cost, reductions in fluid consumption and evaporation, automatic nozzle cleaning with an auto shut-down feature and printhead flexibility. The ink jet printer series also features 10.4-in. large color LCD touch panel with increased resolution/viewing angle, Ethernet connectivity for manufacturing integration and IP55 stainless cabinet enclosure rating for a variety of installations. 

Hitachi America, 704/494-3008.
www.hitachi-america.us

Case sealer
With a new energy-efficient adhesive system and high-efficiency drive motor, the Model 436G case sealer requires less energy to operate, providing a green alternative to conventional case sealers, the co. states. Offering nonstop case sealing at speeds from 10 to 75 cases/min., the case sealer uses a pacer belt infeed that automatically spaces cases for precision sealing. Features of the case sealer include a rotary tucker, contoured flap folders and flap alignment bar.
A-B-C Packaging Machine Corp., 800/237-5975.
www.abcpackaging.com

Box dumper

A new TIP-TITE high-lift box/container dumper discharges dust-free into vessels 6- to 10-ft above the plant floor. The dumper allows boxes and other containers to be loaded at floor level, sealed against a discharge hood, elevated and tipped, mating the hood outlet to a gasketted inlet port fitted to any receiving vessel. The unit accommodates Gaylords and other boxes from 36- to 48-in. on a side and 39- to 44-in. overall height. The dumper is constructed of carbon steel with stainless material contact surfaces and is also available in all-carbon-steel construction with durable industrial coatings, or all-stainless construction finished to food, pharmaceutical or industrial standards.

Flexicon Corp., 888/353-9426.
www.flexicon.com

ID reader
The co.'s DataMan 100 and 200 Series image-based ID readers combine fast and reliable code performance (up to 45 reads/sec.), ease-of-use, lighting, camera, processor and communications into a small, industrial-rated housing. Models are available to best match each co.'s application for ID bar code reading, high-speed applications or for challenging 2D direct part marks.

Cognex, 508/650-3000.
www.cognex.com

Outsert applicator
The Model 277 auto-sert outsert applicator features hot-melt glue adhesion with compact and versatile outsert extraction designed for compliance with the new industry standards, resulting in thicker outserts because of additional content, larger type and formatting requirements. The applicator attaches outserts to pharmaceutical containers at high speeds, handling a range of outsert sizes and reducing operating costs by minimizing the cost of consumables, the co. states. The applicator uses hot-melt glue, which reliably holds heavy outserts, and handles outserts 0.875- to 2.5-in. wide, 1.125- to 4-in. high and 1.5-in. thick at speeds up to 220-bottles/min. 

NJM/CLI, 800/432-2990.
www.njmcli.com

Medical device packager
The H18S horizontal multi-lane medical device packaging machine can accommodate up to an 18.5-in. wide web, with single side registration (37-in. wide web when configured for front to back registration). The machine features include AB drive and touchscreen controls, seal parameters for machine validation, cantilevered air core film unwind shafts, special punch assembly to create an easy open feature for pealable film, missing product detection, Markem SmartDate 5C/128 thermal transfer printers, and a group and count discharge conveyor. 

Circle Packaging Machinery Inc., 920/983-3420.
www.circlepackaging.com

Robotic controller
The co. has extended the functionality of its IRC5 Compact controller to six additional robot families. The smallest controller was introduced in 2009 along with the introduction of the IRB 120, the co.'s smallest 6-axis robot. The compact controller will now support the IRB 120, IRB 140, IRB 260, IRB 360 FlexPicker, IRB 1410 and IRB 1600 robot families, offering the benefits of a greatly reduced controller footprint and simplified commissioning to a wider range of applications, the co. states. The desktop-size IRC5 Compact is fully compatible with standard and panel-mount IRC-5 controllers, providing superior motion control, user friendly FlexPendant programming, flexible RAPID language and powerful communication capabilities.

ABB Robotics, 248/391-9000.
www.abb.com

Tubular conveyors
CABLEflow tubular cable drag conveyors are designed for gentle application handling and installations requiring conveying in multiple planes. They can transfer friable bulk products from single or multiple infeed points to single or multiple discharge points with little or no damage. Applications include the coffee industry, where the conveyors are used to convey coffee beans, and the snack food industry, where the conveyors are used to move fragile finished products.

Spiroflow Systems Inc., 704/291-9595.
www.spiroflowsystems.com

Weigher
The co.'s CCW-R-218WB double weigher features twin-bagmaker systems on a single framework for 30-percent less floor space than two single systems, the co. states. The weigher is designed to optimize the performance of high-speed twin-bagmakers, as it features an unique arrangement of 18-weigh heads to deliver a direct discharge of product into each bagmaker inlet for speeds up to 280-products/min.

Ishida/Heat and Control, 800/227-5980.
www.heatandcontrol.com

Pneumatic cylinders
The co. has extended its NITRA pneumatic product line to include a series of compact stainless steel, round body cylinders. The new C-series cylinders feature type 304 stainless steel bodies with anodized aluminum alloy heads. The type 303 stainless piston rod is equipped with Buna "N" O-ring rod seals and sintered bronze rod bushings. The double-acting cylinders are available in 9/16- to 3-in. bore sizes and stroke lengths from 0.25- to 4-in. Optional clevis brackets and rod eyes are also available, the co. states.

Automation Direct, 800/633-0405.
www.automationdirect.com

Robotic palletizer
The co.'s EC-201 robotic palletizer has a payload capacity of 440 lbs and a palletizing capacity of 1,600 cycles/hr. The weight of the mechanically-balanced arm can be supported by a single finger, which allows the palletizer to use less energy and reduce stress on the arm joints, bearings, pivot points and floor supports. A standard touchscreen allows personnel to change palletizing programs in less than 5 sec., use onboard warning systems, review error occurrences and take corrective measures. The palletizer can also monitor I/O in real time, track inventory by specific programs, compare running- and powered-up hours and monitor the machine in real time, the co. says.

American-Newlong, 317/787-9421.
www.american-newlong.com

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