Convey, collate, and place: Corrugate and plastic bottles
The system includes mechanical and electrical integration of a Shanklin continuous motion shrink wrapping machine. The Shanklin machine is equipped with an extended “lugged” infeed conveyor to facilitate automatic loading of the assembled display package. Synchronous timing between the two continuous motion machines was accomplished electronically.
Corrugated backing sheets are removed from a stack and laid down onto the shrink wrapper infeed conveyor, by an integrated Minnesota Automation rotary pick and place, where they are engaged and driven through the system by lugs.
As the corrugated sheet rides along the conveyor, a series of rails guide the bottom 2” sections upward, bending at a score line, to a position perpendicular (90°) to the backing.
Filled and capped bottles are delivered to the system at 260 bottles per minute via a standard conveyor equipped with a tabletop chain where they enter a timing screw.
The timing screw releases the bottles in groups of three or four in synchronization with corresponding platens.
Platens, fitted with cam rollers and a lower pivot, ride around a rotary oval fitted with a cam that enables the platens to rotate 90° from a vertical position to a horizontal position and back to a vertical position
as they traverse the cam.
Once the bottles have transferred to the platens in groups of three or four (one bottle per platen), they begin to rotate down as they become aligned above their corresponding corrugate backing, conveyed by the shrink wrapper lugged conveyor.
As the bottles are rotated to a fully supine orientation, they are held up against the platens by guide rails. When the bottle group is aligned directly above its corresponding corrugate backing, the guide rails end and the bottles lay down on the backing.
Assembled display packages continue through the shrink wrapper where they are fully wrapped, and upon exiting the heat tunnel, they pass under a Farason supplied and integrated Labelling Technologies wipe labeler for application of a large promo label.
