Baking & Snack - February 2018 - 130

WRAP ON WITH

THE SLEEK

FORM/FILL/SEAL

Continuous motion protects products
in vertical and horizontal packaging.
Safety through final seal

SLEEK40

1
Economical
1
Up

to 400mm
web width
1
Up to 60 packs/min

SLEEK45

1
High

Speed
to 450mm
web width
1
Up to 200 packs/min
1
Up

SLEEK
INVERTED

1
Up
1
Up

to 650mm web width
to 100 packs/min

1.833.4PAXIOM

"Ѵ;;h)u-rr;uĺ1ol

GROUP
LAS VEGAS

MIAMI

TORONTO

MONTREAL

The packaging line is expected to protect
a product until it is in its bag or wrap.
Formost Fuji takes several approaches to
ensure fragile products are wrapped and
sealed safely.
On its horizontal wrapper, an inner former made of sheet metal allows
food manufacturers to wrap and seal
the product without damaging it. This
is typically for more rigid products like
crackers, Mr. Gunnell said, and is used
when products are so fragile that the
film can't form around the product itself
without causing breakage.
Additionally, Formost Fuji offers a
short film tube area to maximize control
of the product. It features two fin wheels
for film, one heated and one cold. Mr.
Gunnell said the shorter distance a product travels in the film tube area means
limited time in which it isn't under total control. Once it's in the tube area, it
is carried only by the film since it has
left the infeed conveyor and customized
guides and pusher.
"The big thing is getting product and
film tested before production to determine what will work," Mr. Gunnell said.
TNA subscribes to what it calls the
"80-80 Rule" to safely get products into a
package, Mr. Lozano said. The rule states
that no product can take up more than
80% of the opening of any given device
on the machine. So, product can't be
more than 80% the size of a scale bucket,
80% of a chute or 80% of a bag.
Once a product is placed in its bag on
TNA vertical f/f/s machines, tube formers separate it from the sealing process.
This makes sure no product bounces back
up into the seal area during the rapid filling process. TNA uses servo motors that
can detect if a product has been trapped
in the sealing jaw and can reject a bag in
production to ensure no bags with bro-

ken product get through the system.
The servo motor sensors work on
three principals: velocity, command
position and torque. If any of these has
been impeded, something has gotten
in the way. "We can actually read down
to a grain of salt on the jaws because
we run a standard deviation on the jaw
gap signatures, and when that deviates, we know something is in the jaw,"
Mr. Lozano said.

Getting there in one piece
Once a product has been packed and
sealed, its journey is still far from
complete.
Secondary packaging lines can handle
products gently and provide an additional layer of security. A-B-C Packaging
uses servo-operated mechanisms to ensure gentle handling for fragile products
in case, tray or display tray packaging.
Bryan Sinicrope, vice-president, sales
and marketing, A-B-C Packaging, recommended designing a primary package that provides an added degree of
support such as a carton or tray that
matches the size of the product.
"To ensure the final product will be
intact when the customer opens the bag
or package, you have to consider the final part of the distribution process, from
point of purchase to point of consumption," Mr. Sinicrope said.
When consumers go looking for a
specific baked food or snack, they expect
it to be intact. Mr. Kehrli recommended
that bakers partner with equipment
manufacturers to determine what packaging line will work best for a given delicate product.
Knowing how to get a thin cookie,
cracker or breakfast biscuit to the consumer safely is key to ensuring and protecting product quality, and ultimately a
brand's reputation.

http://sleekwrapper.com

Baking & Snack - February 2018

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Baking & Snack - February 2018