Efficiency-driven pulse packaging system

UK pulse processor William Rodgers has installed one of Sandiacre's state-of-the-art carousel type BTM250 block top machines to package pulses in block bottom/block top format packs - a system which is said to save both time and money.

The BTM250, which has a maximum output capacity of 60 per minute depending on overall puck (bag carriage) size, produces free-standing, reclosable packs. On top of the increased speed, William Rodgers also claims that the system has provided it with considerable labour savings.

Generally associated with sugar packaging - the block bottom/block top pack - Sandiacre claims that the application has now become popular with a variety of manufacturers for packaging a number of foodstuffs. Products such as sugar, pulses, pasta, rice, dried fruits, pearl barley, couscous, soya mince and chunks, lentils and other particulate products, are now present on supermarket shelves in this pack format.

William Rodgers switched to the Sandiacre block bottom/block top pack style as a replacement for their existing system. The old system involved a dual packaging operation where product was packed into a secondary pack which was then placed into a cardboard outer. This demanded shrinkwrap bundling which, in turn, depended on a good stable pack.

The new system, which was the product of collaborative effort, is a fully automated alternative which collates, shrink wraps and labels William Rodgers' products.

Sandiacre's BTM250, which interfaces with most vertical form/fill/seal machines, converts block bottom/gable top bags into fully formed block bottom/block top bags. Having a capacity to handle between 20 and 40 units at a time (depending on actual bag size), the BTM250 is capable of transforming bags into block top format at a rate of 40 to 60 bags/minute.

Bag configurations within the range 50x70mm, 50x105mm or 50x180mm face width, 30 to 100mm depth and between 100 and 210mm in height are readily accommodated and bespoke variations are also accommodated, the company claims.

Bags presented to the BTM250 are marshalled by a fully automated system; the product is then carefully settled, bags are resealed, the top flap is folded by a bi-folding system and a resealable, self-adhesive label tab is applied to the bag top flap.

The package then arrives in a form that is easily stacked, then the block formed packages are transported out of the machine for the final packaging stage.