The LST 50 semi automatic L sealing machine

The LST 50 semi automatic L sealing machine is an all in one shrink wrap solution for presentation wrapping. It consists of the sealing system and a continuously running heat shrink tunnel mounted onto a single frame.

The machine uses a single phase, 13 amp supply and since the machine is mounted on lockable castors it is easily moved about. Speed of operation is around 600 products per hour and requires an operator to be present at all times to load the product.

The product being wrapped is manually loaded into the centrefolded film. The sealing and cutting head is manually lowered onto the film and is held in place with a solenoid.

After this point, the operation is fully automatic. The sealing head is released after a preset time and the wrapped product is automatically conveyed into the heat shrink tunnel. After the heat shrink tunnel the product is either discharged onto a table or onto another conveyor.

Both polyolefin and PVC can be used with the LST 50 semi automatic L sealing machine. The LST 50 can wrap a pack 380 x 500 mm.

The success of the range over just 18 months has led them to invest in an ES60 manual shrinkwrap sleeve wrapping machine

ES60 manual sleeve wrapping machine

from Wraps UK, part of the Marden Edwards Group. The equipment is now wrapping collations of 75 and 25cl bottles of apple juice and 75 and 50cl bottles of cider on trays. The company was previously using cases to pack the products.

Currently the Orchard Pig brand is sold mainly through farm shops and other exclusive outlets. Production is currently at around 100,000 bottles of apple juice and 70,000 bottles of cider per annum. Already Fortnum & Mason and Jamie Oliver’s restaurant chain stock the Orchard Pig range.

‘We switched to the sleeve wrapping option largely to save costs on our packaging.’ says Andrew Quinlan. ‘Cost savings per pack are already substantial and can be more than 200 per cent’ he explains. ‘Another advantage is the film we use to wrap takes up far less storage than the cases we used previously, which is a big help in a small factory. We are also doing our bit for the environment by using less packaging, for example we no longer need the divider inserts used previously’ he adds.

‘The machine is robust and simple to operate’ comments Neil MacDonald ‘which is great for someone with limited experience of running machinery!’

The sales unit for the cartonned bottles is either a 3 or a 6 pack.  The Wraps UK AS75 machine automatically takes a complete row of bottles from the cartonning machine and then either shrink wraps them as a 3 or a 6 pack.

To do this the machine feeds the product from the side and an integral transfer pusher produces the collation and transfers the pack through the film.  Although the original request was for 20 collations per minute the Wraps machine has been wrapping at a line speed of 22.

Thanks to Wraps UK machines being designed and manufactured in the UK it was straightforwrd to meet Orbis’ request that a hand loading and sorting station be incorporated into the infeed of the machine.  This provided the production flexibility that Orbis required to wrap collations of products both with and without cardboard base trays.

Wraps UK has just completed the first model in a brand new range of two reel sleevewrappers. The AS75 shrink wrapper has been sold to a major UK packaged tea supplier for shrink wrapping shelf ready trays of tea leaf cartons. The tea is either in a 6 or 12 pack plastic tray which is automatically fed through the film web by conveyor.

The AS75 is the latest generation of sleeve wrapper produced by Wraps UK. Drawing on over twenty years of machine building experience, the AS75 incorporates many improvements incorporated through listening to the needs of customers. Manufactured in Wraps UK’s Wimborne factory, the AS75 is more robust than ever before but is still easy to move around the production floor if required.

Improvements include a high level, easy access perimeter guarding system for great safety and machine visibility. Machine control and diagnostics are via an ergonomically positioned LCD display which allows the operator unprecedented control over the wrapping process. Both film reels are now mounted after the film sealing jaw enabling simple and speedy film thread up.

Improvements with both the pneumatics and machine controls mean that it is suitable for production rates greater than 20 products per minute. The thicker, folded frame is extremely strong making the machine very smooth in operation. The solid knife sealing jaw has been extended enabling film widths of up to 700mm to be used.

The AS75, in combination with one of Wraps UK manufactured heat shrink tunnels, provides a low cost but high performance shrink wrapping packaging system.