Product Orientation and Trafficking Systems

KRAKEN KLB03-200 Lane Product Balancer System

There are numerous high-speed packaging lines addressing a variety of high-speed packaging and material/product handling applications. These systems achieve rates anywhere from 150 to 400 units/min., many times requiring downstream conveying, product orientation and at times, rate balancing amongst several secondary packaging units.

KRAKEN KLB03-200 lane balancer is a solution that can provide high speed product multiplexing functionality, both in a product merging and distributing capacity. This is achieved by diverting product from one or more source lanes, and re-distributing the product to one or more destination lanes. Selecting, diverting and merging the product on high-speed production lines are critical to ensure proper product phasing and gapping, allowing efficient interlacing of product where a merging application is required.

The KRAKEN KLB03-200 lane balancing system ensures that the downstream machines are evenly utilized, while allowing incremental capacity increases to upstream product handling/packaging systems, and thereby provide opportunities to increase production throughput with significant outlay on new machinery.

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Right-angle Servo Product Sweep Systems (200 PPM)

With the variety of high speed synchronous packaging systems currently employed, there is always a parallel requirement for modular, integral machines which will handle randomly presented products from upstream packaging systems and synchronize product delivery into cartoning infeed machines.

The KRAKEN KRAS-200 Right-angle Product Sweep is a solution that can provide high speed product synchronization and right angle product orientation delivery. Products of varying shapes, packages and orientations can be easily and gently handled at rates of 200 + products/min. This unit is contained within a small footprint, sanitary enclosure, either as a standalone machine, or integrated into a variety of food/beverage product packaging feed and delivery systems.

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Bump-and-turn Product Orientation

Dependent on the product and application product orientation can be achieved efficiently with simpler and cost effective methods such a “bump-and-turn”. This method can be applied even for high speed applications once proper product gapping is employed. With effective product guidance and flow control this solution can be very effective for packaging lines

Carton bump-and-turn

Pouch bump-and-turn

Carton Upender Orientation System

There are a few instances where carton upending might be required. One would be to orient cartons after coming out flat from a cartoner to be reoriented on its upright edge for staging Into a case packing machine. Other applications might require carton to be upended for application of a bar code or label. There has been even examples where this system is used to achieve greater accumulation on a line by turning carton form its flat face to its edge.

Carton Upender

Carton/Case Turners KSCT/30-70, (90-180 degree case orientation, 30-70 CPM depending on carton weights and sizes)

Carton orientation I achieved by Kraken’s “Star-wheel” case turner. This unique engineering design was developed in its first application to accommodate market requirement to orient 13 case sizes on the same line. Cartons can be conveyed on the same line at any given time without the need of time consuming changeovers to new parts. With a retractable star-wheel, that lowers automatically when needed below the conveyor rollers, cartons can conveyed pass the turner without being turned. Operator user interface, one can select applicable carton size and orientation instruction when needed.

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Product Lane Diverters, Squeeze and Stop Gates

The complexities and demands of packaging lines today are pushed even higher to achieve greater through-puts for the ever increasing Market demand on products. Plant operations are required to achieve more with less and in so saying do it within a limited plant footprint. More production throughput requires greater flexibility and control of product flow. Product lane divert mechanisms as well as squeeze gates are a few examples where Kraken can implement to be able to divert product to several lanes or other areas of the packaging operation to feed other packaging systems. This together with squeeze and stop gates allow product flow and trafficking to address accumulation and product merge requirements that may be needed on that packaging line.

Product lane diverter

Product squeeze gates