Automating packaging processes

From miropack's perspective, automation and data enrichment in packaging machines provide significant added value for process stability. By reducing intervention within a machine, especially when packaging food, the protection of products and people is ensured. For these reasons, the company integrates HC-S 12-inch smart positioning systems from halstrup-walcher into its machine, depending on the customer's preference, for a fully or partially automated solution.

The HC-S packaging machine, a side-load application of the company, can package up to 170 frozen pizzas per minute. These are stacked, already wrapped in a thin film, one to three pizzas per packaging size, and placed in a suitable carton. According to Michael Sünder, CEO and responsible for the design of the packaging specialist, the self-developed magazine head and rotary ejector form the basis for the efficient and streamlined machine solution: "This allows the dimensions of a packaging in the packaging machine to be 25-75 mm high, 220-280 mm deep, and 150-260 mm wide when inserted."

"Our customers are increasingly demanding shorter changeover times and less operator involvement during machine changeovers. Furthermore, the adjustment values should be able to be reproduced safely and easily," Sünder explains. The increased automation in format adjustment offers exactly these advantages that the machine manufacturer now constructively plans in his machines and plants which makes the packaging machines more efficient for the customers. "Finding compact adjustment motors for the various adjustment points within the machine that also require a small amount of space in the control cabinet and can communicate with different bus systems (Profinet and TCP/IP) was our goal, which we were able to achieve with the PSE series from halstrup-walcher. Additionally, the STO integrated in the drive was important to us and convinced us," Sünder says.

The PSE product series, which has grown over the years, offers a variety of variants that can be configured specifically for the application. For example, variants with brakes and a range of torques between 1 Nm and 25 Nm are also available. PSE positioning systems can be used as a setting for standard long holes, spindles, or square bolts with minimal effort thanks to their hollow shaft mounting. The durable, energy-efficient BLDC motor and battery-free operation make the positioning systems a practically maintenance-free component.

When planning a packaging machine, miropack starts with a standard version that is then maximally adapted to the individual requirements of the customer. "As a special machine builder, it is possible to optimally integrate individual solutions into existing processes through the right components and to make the degree of automation flexible for customers," Sünder reports from experience. The packaging specialist considers the reliability of component suppliers, their quality, and their adaptation to the needs of machine construction to be essential in ensuring the high quality of the overall system. "The very good technical advice, the good price/performance ratio, as well as the optimal technical support, not only during commissioning, but also for follow-up questions during the test phase, were all reasons why we decided to use halstrup-walcher positioning systems," says Sünder. The packaging specialist sees itself on the best path, together with halstrup-walcher as a reliable partner, to implement fully automated packaging machines for new or existing system landscapes and to be able to offer the end customer constructive freedom for individual adjustments at the same time.