Accessing inventory

VT Hackney Inc. introduced Sidekick, a low-profile, four-bay side-load body mounted on a Ford Transit cab and chassis. It offers many of the same features as Hackney’s larger beverage units, including all-aluminum construction, adjustable bay shelving, a bottom rail power step and rear-mounted hand truck, the company says. Compatible with the Ford Transit 9,950 and 10,360 gross vehicle weight (GVW) cab-and-chassis vans in gas or diesel versions, the SideKick can provide more than 4,000 pounds of payload, it adds. Roughly the same size as a cargo van, the SideKick locates product lower to the ground and can be loaded with pallets via a forklift. Side-door access provides quick retrieval of product and additional convenience when having to maneuver through alleys or congested areas, the company says.

VT Hackney Inc., 911 W. 5th St., Washington, N.C. 27889; 252/946-6521; hackneybeverages.com.

Advancing automation

Douglas Machine Inc. introduced the Stratum line of robotic palletizers, which dispense and convey pallets, manage case delivery, place slip and tier sheets, and utilize robotics to palletize cases. Designed to be integrated with Douglas packing equipment, Stratum palletizers can support the packaging process from start to finish, the company says.

Douglas Machine Inc., 3404 Iowa St., Alexandria, Minn. 56308; 320/763-6587; douglas-machine.com.

Withstanding heat

Spirax Sarco USA introduced its extensive range of desuperheaters that provide precise control and enhanced thermal energy transfer to reduce superheated steam temperature, the company says.
The spray type, venture, variable-area and steam-atomizing desupeheaters are custom made with carbon steel, stainless steel or chrome moly shell material options, which can withstand temperatures as high as 1094 degrees Fahrenheit, it adds. Other features include a desuperheater range that provides turndown from
3:1 to 50:1 and an increased process efficiency where waste and residual heat can be recovered and recycled.

Spirax Sarco USA, 1150 Northpoint Blvd., Blythewood, S.C. 29016; 800/575-0394; spiraxsarco.com.

All mixed up

Charles Ross & Son Co. offers a High Shear Mixer Model HSM-130 with Hydraulic Lift that can be used for general-purpose mixing, powder wet-out, de-agglomeration, dispersion, emulsification and homogenization. It features a four-blade rotor running within a close-tolerance stator at variable tip speeds as fast as 3,000-4,000 feet a minute, the company says. As the rotor continuously draws product components and expels them through the stator openings, the batch is subjected to high levels of mechanical and hydraulic shear, it adds. Interchangeable stators with different size openings provide added flexibility to adapt to a variety of applications and shear requirements. The HSM-130 is driven by a 30-horsepower (HP) motor and equipped with an air/oil hydraulic lift for easy positioning and access to the mixing head. The lift also allows users to utilize multiple tanks and accommodate a range of batch sizes, the company says. An option to process difficult-to-disperse powders, a solid/liquid injection manifold (SLIM) also is available for inline and continuous operation.

Charles Ross & Son Co., 710 Old Willets Path, Hauppauge, N.Y. 11788; 800/243-7677; mixers.com.

Driving it home

Nord Gear Corp. introduced its new distributed control motor soft starters, the SK135E and SK175E, to help eliminate uncontrolled starting and mechanical strain on drive components. The starters are designed to be used in a distributed control system and can be mounted directly on or near the motor, the company says. AC Motors connected directly to a power source exhibit heightened power consumption when starting and stopping and also can demand as much as seven times the rated motor current irrespective of load, it adds. The SK135E and SK175 eliminate the unnecessary risks associated with running electric motors as the primary mover by regulating the motor’s starter and controlling it, which protects the equipment and saves money, the company says. The starters also are equipped with as many as four configurable potentiometers, a diagnostic interface via RJ12, an EMC line filter, diagnostic LED’s, as well as onboard networking ASi or Profibus DP, it adds. 

NORD Gear Corp. USA, 800 Nord Drive, Waunakee, Wis. 53587; 888/314-6673; nord.com.

Coating perfection

KHS Plasmax GmbH expanded its portfolio to include small PET bottles holding liquids between 100 and 350 ml. The new KHS InnoPET Plasmax 20QS specifically is designed to process small-format PET bottles using a unique Plasmax glass interior coating, which reduces material costs and allows for a longer shelf-life, the company says. Because of its reduced-volume coating chambers, the system is able to achieve an output of as many as 48,000 PET bottles an hour, or 330 million bottles annually, it adds. The thin Plasmax coating makes the bottles lighter, saving as much as 30 percent on materials and decreasing PET processing costs, according to the company.

KHS USA, 880 Bahcall Court, Waukesha, Wis. 53186; 262/797-7200; khs.com. 

Put a lid on it

Dean Groening, inventor and company founder, introduced ADdysk, a patented advertising and marketing mechanism designed to keep takeaway beverages hot or cold while allowing easy promotion on the lid. Developed and manufactured in Australia, the ADsip lid and ADdysk printed disc insert provide an innovative platform for delivering branding or call-to-action campaigns, the company says. The ADsip lid can accommodate a wide range of materials including paper, card, plastics and recycled materials, all of which can be printed on both sides. This lid system offers increased marketing opportunities and any information or offer is easily removed, it adds.

ADdysk, 5-7 Felton St., Unit 5, Mitchell Canberra ACT, Australia 2911; +011-61-412-391-151; addysk.com.

Look under the hood

HEMCO Corp. offers a complete line of fume hoods ranging in size from 30 to 96 inches wide in bench-top and floor-mount models, with custom sizing options available. The hoods feature unitized construction made with chemical- and fire-resistant, nonmetallic  composite resin materials, the company says. The fume chamber is a seamless, molded single piece with all curved corners for easy cleaning and light reflectivity. UniFlow hoods include low-flow Constant Volume air bypass and Variable Air Volume VAV models, which are 1805 certified by Underwriters Laboratories.

HEMCO Corp., 711 S. Powell Road, Independence, Mo.  64056; 800/779-4362; hemcocorp.com.

Monitoring solutions

Graco Inc. offers a new LineSite remote monitoring solution, designed for use with its InvisiPac Tank-Free Hot Melt Systems, which reduces adhesive costs and increases production in packaging industry applications, the company says. LineSite allows users to take control of hot-melt dispensing equipment, keeping them in touch with operations by viewing the status of InvisiPac hot-melt machines on the plant floor from a smartphone, tablet or computer, it adds. With LineSite, operators can check temperatures, review critical performance metrics, view how much adhesive each line is using and monitor machine diagnostics to prevent downtime, the company says. Other features include real-time data tracking and collection, email alerts when alarms or system setup changes occur, and data storage on a single, local device.

Graco Inc., 88 – 11th Ave. NE, Minneapolis, Minn. 55413; 800/458-2133; gracosaniforce.com.

Pumping it up

IWAKI America Inc. offers a complete line of air-operated, double-diaphragm pumps for sumping, filling, transferring, batching and dispensing fluids within a wide range of industries.  They are available in multiple corrosion-resistant materials and sizes ranging from one-quarter of an inch to three inches, the company says. The pumps are designed with an innovative, patent pending Looped-C air motor spool valve, which greatly improves on/off switching reliability, operational efficiency and air valve component life, it adds.

IWAKI America Inc., 5 Boynton Road, Holliston, Mass. 01746; 508/429-1440; iwakiair.com.

Seeing clearly

Cognex Corp. introduces the In-Sight 2000 series that combines the power of In-Sight vision systems with the simplicity and affordability of a vision sensor, the company says. Ideal for solving simple error-proofing applications, the vision sensors are easy to use, flexible and contain a modular design with interchangeable lighting and optics. The In-Sight Explorer EasyBuilder interface also provides a fast, step-by-step application setup that enables users to achieve reliable inspection performance in many production environments, it adds. Other features include an integrated, high-performance image formation system consisting of field-interchangeable lenses and a patent-pending LED ring light that produces evenly diffused illumination across the entire image, it adds. Customers also can swap out the lens and change the color of the integrated ring light as needed depending on application.

Cognex Corp., 800 E. Diehl Road, Suite 125, Naperville, Ill. 60563; 855/426-4639; cognex.com.

Electric connectivity

Larson Electronics LLC introduces a 50-foot extension cord with twist-lock connectors to ensure a tight connection when operating equipment in the work area. The EXC-50-8.4-30A-L16.30 twist-lock extension power cord is designed for 480-volt, three-phase indoor and outdoor applications, the company says. The rugged extension cord is constructed of eight-gauge, four-conductor wire equipped with 30-amp rated L16-30 male and female twist-lock cord caps, which allow operators to extend power to equipment when stationary outlets are not readily available, it adds.

Larson Electronics LLC, 9419 E. U.S. Highway 175, Kemp, Texas 75143; 800/369-6671; larsonelectronics.com.

Sterilizing packaging with ‘Pixie Dust’

Performance Packaging of Nevada LLC introduced a new, economical way to sterilize flexible packaging and its contents, which features a “liquid-to-gas” sterilization process that has been code-named “Pixie Dust,” the company says. The process features generally recognized as safe (GRAS) materials and process residuals are below the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) Threshold of Regulation, it adds. Product sterilization can occur during storage or shipping and is achieved in less than 48 hours at room temperature, according to the company. Additionally, the Pixie Dust has a neutral scent and taste and can be used for stand-up pouches, bag-in-box packages and other aseptic processes.

Performance Packaging of Nevada LLC, 6430 Medical Center St., Suite 102, Las Vegas, Nev.  89148; 702/240-3457; pplv.com.

Reducing air turbulence

Schenck Process LLC offers a new Supplied Air Extruder (SAE) Hood that is designed to remove extruded material and start the pneumatic conveying process to the dryer from the extruder, the company says. Unique to the system is a twin inlet design that splits the airflow, resulting in opposing flows that achieve near perfect laminar flow through the extruder discharge zone, which eliminates air turbulence and product clumping issues, it adds. The SAE Hood is equipped with baffles, diffuser vanes, discharge gates and a dual-air-flow design. Other features include a space-saving design and all moving parts of the SAE Hood are inside the device to keep operators safe, it adds.

Schenck Process LLC, 746 E. Milwaukee St., Whitewater, Wis. 53190; 816/891-9300;  schenckprocess.com.

Synchronized speed

Sleeve Seal offers the SSL-1600, a vertical sleeve-labeling machine. The two-lane, dual-sychronized-head machine employs two independent functions for each labeling head, the company says. The drivetrain has been re-engineered to reach and maintain a new level of performance, and the new belt-based drivetrain requires fewer replacement parts and requires no additional lubrication, it adds. The machine also provides speed and precision along with mandrels and cutter boxes that enable easy changeover to different formats. Other features include processing as many as 1,600 containers a minute, two rugged and indexable multipurpose heads, an improved and precise label-placement system, and an integrated Ethernet/IP Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) Motion Based A-B controls, it adds.

Sleeve Seal, 3300 S. Woodrow St., Little Rock, Ark. 72204; 501/492-3893; sleeveseal.com.

Juicing prowess

Pomeroy Equipment released its ergonomic cold-press machine, the Goodnature Countertop CT7, built for the single juice bar countertop space. Smaller and lighter weight, the machine can produce six juices at a time, averaging as much as 9 gallons an hour, the company says. Goodnature also is introducing environmentally responsible compostable juice bags made from renewable resources, it adds.

Pomeroy Equipment Co., 7200 Montessouri St., Suite 140; Las Vegas, Nev. 89113; 800/403-4051; pomeroyequipment.com.

Software solutions

Siemens offers its easy-to-use Simatic S7-1500 software controller, which delivers 24/7 availability while operating independent of the Windows system to ensure continuous operation during restart or Windows failure, the company says. Ideal for machines with high performance requirements, the flexible controller is compatible with many industrials PCs, including Simatic Panel PCs, Simatic Box, Rack PCs and ET 200 open controllers, it adds. It also features open user communication (TCP, UDP) to Windows applications or via the Windows Ethernet interfaces and can accommodate two Profinet interfaces, it adds.

Siemens Digital Factory Division, 5300 Triangle Parkway, Norcross, Ga. 30092; 800/241-4453; usa.siemens.com.

Sensor innovations

Crystal IS, an Asahi Kasei company, released its Optan Flat Window, a deep ultraviolet (UV) LED in a TO-39 package with a flat window. The Optan Flat Window technology platform provides increased detection sensitivity, the company says. Other features include a wider viewing angle for easier alignment to fiber-coupled designs in analytical and life-science instruments, high reliability, performance, lower cost and maximum flexibility because the LED is housed in a package to preserve lambertian emission. The Optan Flat Window can be used in clean-place operations in the food and beverage industries, it adds.

Crystal IS, 70 Cohoes Ave., Green Island, N.Y. 12183; 518/271-7375; cisuvc.com.

Lifting pins

J.W. Winco Inc. offers restriction of hazardous substances (RoHS) GN 1130 steel lifting pins in metric sizes, the company says. The pins work by releasing the locking effect, allowing the load pin to be moved in or out of the holding bore hole, it adds. The shackle rotates by at least 180 degrees, with a safety flange fitted as a safeguard against inadvertent operation. Depending on the direction of pull, the ball-load pin can move 360 degrees in the holding bore hole. The heat-treated, manganese phosphate steel lifting pins alleviate the need for lifting gear, and holding bore holes with d1 H11 tolerance are adequate for use, it adds.

J.W. Winco Inc., 2815 S. Calhoun Road, New Berlin, Wis. 53151; 800/877-8351; jwwinco.com.