KHS presents extremely flexible, sustainable and cost-saving packaging technology
At interpack 2014 KHS will be represented in Hall 13, Booth A31, under its now familiar motto of "First choice in technology and service". The trade show focus will be on the KHS-INNOPACK Kisters TSP A-H-TPFO packaging machine which is extremely flexible in its use, saves costs during production and also sets new standards when it comes to sustainability. This packer in the Advanced series is designed to deal with all kinds of containers and packs, processing classic cans, glass and plastics containers as well as individually formed packs and pre-packed product groups. The KHS-INNOPACK Kisters TSP A-H-TPFO can turn products into either tray packs, tray shrink packs, pad shrink packs or shrink packs.
The machine is modular and thus also able to meet future demands and consumer requirements, with additional functional modules quickly and easily added if required. The innovative Advanced series also comes with a full range of added benefits. For instance, the cubic machine frame provides good visibility and great ease of operation. The machine's design makes it possible to operate the packer with up to four lanes. Advanced machine technology features centrally suspended guide rails, thus facilitating format changeovers. Specific operator prompting permits new settings to be made quickly and precisely when formats are changed. An electronic display clearly communicates which settings must be selected at the positions where changes are to be made. All function units on the packaging machine have identical servomotors with integrated servocontrollers. This simplifies spare part stockkeeping, among other things. An overload function incorporated into the servomotors ensures high operational reliability. To ensure that excellent hygienic conditions prevail during production all of the supporting systems for the function modules are made of painted tubes which are permanently welded to the machine. There are also drip pans beneath the function modules which catch any product runoff, cleaning media or rinsing water, for example.
Following any maintenance work all drives are always reset to a defined mechanical zero point on KHS Advanced plant engineering for a fast and gentle machine restart. Conveyor belts are actively controlled by pneumatic elements for low wear and low maintenance.
One new feature integrated into the trade show machine for the first time ever is the conveyor belt situated above the folding and setting station. When changing over to the formation of shrink packs only, this conveyor belt can be automatically lowered at the press of a button, thus boosting machine efficiency. To date the appropriate conveying facilities had to be inserted manually, taking up about twice the time.
Another novelty is that on the KHS-INNOPACK Kisters TSP A-H-TPFO on display at interpack fully-enclosed film packs of PET bottles (shrink packs without bull's eyes) can also be produced for the first time with the help of a specially constructed manipulation unit. This type of packaging can be used for both glass and PET bottles and also for cans and there are many advantages that speak for its application. For instance, fully-enclosed shrink packs more or less eliminate the accidental displacement of containers. When used to create large-format shrink packs, material is also specifically saved, as the stability of the fully-enclosed pack does away with the need for trays and/or pads. These therefore no longer have to be shipped, stored or handled.
Another highlight of the machine on show at interpack is the targeted web edge control function for film processing and also implementable in multiple lane production. Sensors permanently scan the position of the film; with the tiniest deviation from the specified values the unit takes appropriate countermeasures with the result that film widths can be precisely designed right down to the last millimeter. This greatly reduces the amount of material consumed as opposed to previous systems. Tests show that over 5% of film can be saved using film web edge control alone.
Another new development on the KHS-INNOPACK Kisters TSP A-H-TPFO is the film spreader upstream of the film cutting and film wrapping stations, where air pressure is applied to diverter rails made of a microporous material. The air here flows through very fine hairline cracks and not through larger holes, as was previously the case. As a result less compressed air is needed, the air lubricating film is much more even and reductions of up to 90% in the amount of compressed air required are possible.
The film packs are shrunk in a shrink tunnel which is heated by either electricity or gas. With this, energy costs can be cut by up to 50% compared to classic electrical heating. Both KHS shrink tunnel models are distinguished by the fact that the hot air nozzle equipment can be adjusted within the shrink tunnel hood. Here, the hot air nozzles are precisely directed at each individual shrink pack format, with all settings reproducible. An optional energy-saving package can also be integrated into either type of shrink tunnel. This uses a roller shutter system that automatically closes the product infeed and discharge openings when the packaging machine has stopped, enabling additional energy savings of up to 20% to be made.
The KHS-INNOPACK Kisters TSP A-H-TPFO sports the newly developed KHS ClearLine design which was specially conceived to satisfy various safety, ergonomic and aesthetic specifications in equal measure. The new, multi-award-winning machine operating system (HMI) is also part of the ClearLine concept, where user-friendly machine operator prompting is a given thanks to the use of simple buttons, colored graphics, easy-to-remember icons and interactive handling instructions.
