WP 400 - Wrap-around casepackers up to 40 ppm

1. In the machine infeed zone, a group of guides accurately lines up the loose containers carried by a conveyour belt featuring low-friction chains made of thermoplastic material. In the pack formation zone, the containers are clustered in the required format through electronically synchronized combs and dividing bars, operating in continuous motion.
2. A corrugated cardboard blank is picked from the blanks magazine by a vacuum-free picker with rubberized chains; it moves along the blank climb and places itself underneath the group of products in transit with the short side leading. In the tray/case former, the cardboard blank is folded and wrapped around the products by special guides.
3. The flap folding devices fold the blank’s side flaps and then the upper/lower flaps of both the front and back side of the pack. The hot melt glue sealing ensures an excellent resistance of the pack.
4. At the machine outlet, the pack walls are pressed by special guides.

* The stated values are not binding, as they have to be confirmed by SMI according to the user’s production conditions.

• Machine bearing frame made of sand-blasted and powder-painted steel
• Safety sliding doors made of aluminium and trasparent guards of shock-resistant polycarbonate, which let an easy access to every section of the machine and a large visibility on the entire process of packaging.
• Absence of gearboxes and prevailing employment of ICOS brushless motors equipped with digital servo-driver integrated into the motor
• Continuous motion product grouping device, with electronically synchronized fingers made of plastic material
• For life lubricated pads
• Infeed conveyor with chains made of thermoplastic material featuring low friction coefficient and a motorized system of oscillanting laning guides
• Cardboard magazine situated beneath the infeed conveyour, adjustable according to the blank size
• Cardboard blank picker with rubberized chains
• Machine electrical cabinet with air conditioner
• POSYC® control panel mounted man-high and running the whole length of the machine (fixed on LSK ERGON models)
• Power supply: from 380 to 480V (±5% max.) 50/60 Hz 3PH + PE
• Power supply equal to 230 or 575V: with autotransformer

* The stated values are not binding, as they have to be confirmed by SMI according to the user’s production conditions.

Modular structure

SMI machines are designed according to advanced principles of module assembly and feature interchangeable mechanical and electronic components, which ensure a reduction of the down-times during technical interventions or programmed maintenance and the optimization of the use of spare parts on stock.

Operational flexibility

SMI machines can package a wide range of products in several pack collations, so as to effectively meet the end user’s current and future requirements. Moreover, each machine can be equipped with additional devices, which increase its basic functions and ensure a high level of customization of the final package.

Motors directly connected to the drive shafts

SMI machines do not include gearboxes: the motors are directly connected to the drive shafts. The consequent advantage is the reduction of maintenance, energy consumption and noise.

Continuous motion pack formation

The continuous motion packaging system ensures a fluid production process and protects the containers from strokes, thus granting more reliability, a better quality of the pack and a reduction of mechanical wear.

Thermoplastic material dividing pins

In the pack formation zone, the use of dividing pins made of thermoplastic material, which last longer than those made of metal, reduces the machine noise and protects the fragile containers (such as glass containers) and their labels.

Multi-pitch configuration

SMI machines are pre-arranged to control up to three different machine pitches, without replacing the mechanical components. Therefore, it has been possible to increase the product dimensions range of almost 20%, as compared to the previous machines generation. The working parameters of each pitch are stored in the POSYC® control pc; the operator can select the required machine pitch directly from the touch screen.

Easy and low-cost maintenance

The interchangeability of the mechanical and electronic components and the diagnosis functions on the control panel make the technical interventions and the programmed maintenance quicker and easier; moreover, they optimize the resources, in order to preserve the machines efficiency for long.

New shapes

All WP models can realize hexagonal or octagonal microflute/miniflute cardboard cases, which can be subject to more sophisticated printing processes, as compared to the standard corrugated cardboard.

Perfect cases

The WP casepackers are equipped with fixed guides, which press the pack walls at the machine outlet. This system ensures a perfectly balanced, resistant case, whereas the rotary chain pressing systems can not guarantee the same quality level.

Versatile packs

Besides the cases with traditional sealing, the CM and WP models can realize cases with superposed or joining flaps. As a consequence, the cases can be easily customized with printed images on the 5 visible sides, with obvious advantages for marketing and promotion, as well as better protection of the case content.

User-friendly man-machine interface

The POSYC® control panel, sliding on a boom running the whole length the machine (fixed on LSK ERGON models), enables even less expert operators to easily and effectively run the packaging machine, thanks to an intuitive interface, a touch screen display and diagnosis functions and real-time technical support available on the POSYC®.

* The stated values are not binding, as they have to be confirmed by SMI according to the user’s production conditions.

EASY-LOAD

The innovative “Easy-Load” system allows the automatic loading of the cardboard blanks magazine and features considerable advantages from an operating and functional point of view; in fact, the operator can easily load the cardboard blanks, stacked horizontally in uniform groups, because the feeding belt of the cardboard blanks magazine is positioned at the same working height as the packer’s infeed belt, rather than under it.

More in detail, the new system patented by SMI is made up of a series of conveyor belts, fitted with motorized rollers, which feed the packer’s cardboard blanks magazine; the cardboard blank stacks are carried on these belts up to the area in which they are translated and then continue up to the collection system at case/shrink packer infeed.

Thanks to specific sensors, the layout and feed of the cardboard blanks on the conveyor belts fitted with the motorized roller and their loading into the packer’s magazine is, in fact, fully automated.

Therefore, the innovative solution devised by SMI eliminates the disadvantages related to the traditional loading of the cardboard blanks magazine, which force the operator to bend his/her body continuously to place the blanks in the bottom part of the machine.

The technology used in the “Easy-Load” magazine also features the great advantage of ensuring fluid and constant picking operations with a wide range of cardboard blanks having a thickness between 0.5 mm and 5 mm.

PALLET DISPLAY TRAY

Wrap-around casepackers of the WP series and shrinkwrappers of the SK series can be predisposed in order to produce, in addition to standard packs in corrugated board boxes / trays or in shrinkfilm bundles (with or without tray), also the so called “pallet displays”, e.g. large trays in corrugated board measuring ¼ (WP and SK) and ½ europallet (WP) size.

These collations allow to get remarkable advantages: • better use of the space available on the pallet • huge savings in the packaging material • reduction of storage and transportation costs • low energy consumption • easier handling of the pallet at the points of sale.

It is a very innovative choice, if we consider that, presently, the production of these types of packaging solutions requires the use of two different machines: one for the production of cardboard cases in standard formats of 6, 12, 15 and 24 pieces, and another one for the packaging of a huge number of bottles in trays whose size is equal to ¼ or ½ europallet (½ europallet = until 80 bottles).

TS – TRAY STACKER

The NEW TS (Tray Stacker) stacks on two or more layers clusters of plastic, metal , cardboard or glass containers both clustered in cardboard trays or pad and loose (this latter solution solely for fit-in type cans). This device can be installed on SK shrinkwrappers, on WP casepackers and on CM combined packers.

It consists of an electronic stacking device operating in continuous motion, which achieves an output rate up to 60 packs per minute according to the machine model and to the product handled.

Pack collations can vary according to the container shape, capacity and size; in general, the most requested collations are: 4×3 and 6×4. It is available both for single and for double lane production.

After coming out of the trayformer, two or more packs are stacked by means of a Cartesian coordinate system.

Before the pack enters the shrinking tunnel, the film is wrapped around the products and overlapped at the base of the pack.

PID SBP

The PID SBP® inserts stretched board pre-assembled partitions into cardboard boxes, in order to protect fragile products (such as glass containers) and save their labels from abrasions.

This device can be installed on the WP wrap-around casepackers and on the CM combined packers.

Compared with the traditional inserting systems of non-preassembled partitions, the PID SBP® allows to:

• reduce the partitions purchasing cost by about 20% and their storage volume by at least 60%;
• have a more compact machine, since both the partition magazine and the Partition Inserting Device are mounted on top of the machine; in this way, the machine dimensions are the same as those of a conventional casepacker;
• speed up the partition insertion operation and the loading times of the relevant magazine, since partitions are already pre-assembled;
• reduce the sensitivity of partitions to humidity and climate changes.

The PID SBP® and the pre-assembled partitions magazine are mounted at the machine inlet, on top of the pack-forming section. The maximum operating speed is 45 packs/minute.

A mechanical arm equipped with vacuum suckers picks a stretched board pre-assembled partition from the partition magazine, opens it and lowers it between the products that have just been grouped in the required pack collation.

Finally a cardboard blank is wrapped around the products by means of special guides, thus forming a case.

* The stated values are not binding, as they have to be confirmed by SMI according to the user’s production conditions.