London, On-based Carriage Candy Co. has installed a DynaCon modular conveyor with a variable-speed drive and attached cooling fans from Dynamic Conveyor Corp. (www.dynamicconveyor.com) to provide a cost-effective solution for cooling its Kapow! Pops brand of lollipops. The lollipops are cooled by 215 deg F on a 14-ft conveyor en route to the packaging department.

Before Carriage turned to the modular conveyor, the lollipops required 20 to 25 min to cool. They would ride, in their molds, along a conveyor belt between the kitchen and the wrapping operation. Since the new installation, cooling time has been reduced to 10 min, and productivity on the line has more than doubled.

"Before purchasing the modular conveyor, we were convinced that we could improve product flow. All we needed to do was efficiently lower the temperature of the lollipops," Bob Edgecombe, principal and plant manager for Carriage Candy Co., tells PD. "Initially, we thought about purchasing a cooling tunnel for our existing conveyor. But they were expensive and might not have been adaptable to our future needs."

Carriage purchased a modular system with 32 attachable fans that cool the lollipops in trays riding on a link belt. The fans draw air from underneath the open belt, blowing it onto the molds and cooling them, Edgecombe explains. The system's variable-speed drive enables the conveyor operator to adjust the speed of the belt as required to ensure that the candy is sufficiently cooled before it arrives for wrapping.

The system is efficient, expandable and easy to service, says Edgecombe. It can be expanded by adding the necessary number of 18-in. modules and adding links to the belt. The easy-to-clean belt can be removed from the conveyor, scrubbed in the sink and put right back on.

Dynamic Conveyor Corp., 800/640-6850. www.dynamicconveyor.com