Looking Back 10/20/2011

Jared Rader — Thu, 20 Oct 2011 10:50:34 -0500

10 YEARS AGO — 2001

Looking Back 7/07/2011

Jared Rader — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 13:24:25 -0500

10 YEARS AGO — 2001

Looking Back 6/23/2011

Jared Rader — Thu, 23 Jun 2011 09:16:50 -0500

10 YEARS AGO — 2001

Continuous motion shrink wrapper

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 02:00:00 -0500

This alternative to traditional shrink wrappers uses servomotion to adjust speed according to product flow, thus maintaining continuous motion at speeds up to 80 trays/min. The PLC has operator interfaces for both tray and shrink functions, as well as a smaller interface at the shrink cut to aid setup. A servocontrolled, rotating blade cuts film. The dual-film reel holder contains a spare roll accessible for film loading. Optional printed film registration is available.

Laser-marking system

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 02:00:00 -0500

The IP65- rated housing handles dirty, wet environments. The articulated arm and small marking head suit tight productionline areas. Up to 2,000 characters/sec and line speeds of 50 fps are possible. The laser works on any production line and can move to different lines as needs change. Microsoft Windows-based SmartGraph provides password-protected security. The system uses no inks, solvents, or compressed air.

Thermal transfer overprinter

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 02:00:00 -0500

The overprinter can display and print Arabic characters, with font support from Windows TrueType. And it supports 19 languages, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Turkish. The bidirectional ribbon drive recaptures unused ribbon after each print, maintaining a 1-mm gap between prints for the length of the ribbon. The 8.4-in SVGA and color touchscreen have icon-based controls. The job display features preview zoom to reduce operator error. The device can change between intermittent and continuous modes, in right or left-hand operation.

Intermediate drive conveyor

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 02:00:00 -0500

The Low-Profile Idler, with a nose diameter of only 3.5 in., often eliminates the need for transfers, even for products as small as 4 in. When used with an intermediate drive, these idlers may be used at both ends of a conveyor.

SpanTech LLC, Box 369, 1115 Cleveland Ave., Glasgow, KY 42142, (270) 651-9166, spantechllc.com

Intermediate Drive Conveyor

Cost-conscious molding

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 02:00:00 -0500

Val Zanchuk
President
Graphicast Inc.
Jaffrey, N.H.

Edited by Jean M. Hoffman

Houston hotbed for automation firms

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 02:00:00 -0500

The Houston area saw its second beachhead from an automation supplier recently with the opening of a customer technology center there by Phoenix Contact USA. The firm sees its new center as a way to better serve oil, gas, and process-industry customers. The site will include an application lab for trying out industrial Ethernet and other kinds of equipment for solving application problems.

CAD and CAM help shop pump out micromedical parts

Thu, 21 Jun 2007 02:00:00 -0500

An example of a molded silicone connector from Oscor is placed on a penny to show the small sizes of parts the company can make.

More articles by Staff

Looking Back 10/20/2011

Looking Back 7/07/2011

Looking Back 6/23/2011

Continuous motion shrink wrapper

Laser-marking system

Thermal transfer overprinter

Intermediate drive conveyor

Cost-conscious molding

Houston hotbed for automation firms

CAD and CAM help shop pump out micromedical parts