Plastic container manufacturers continue to push the envelope on their product as they sell against their competition for market share. Shapes and sizes evolve and present challenges in manufacturing and secondary operations such as trimming. MTM Systems works closely with clients on capabilities of trimming rectangular and odd shaped containers.
Recently a project was brought to MTM Systems that required a clean trim on a multi-layered rectangular container at lines speeds of 45 containers per minute. Trimming this type of container at that line speed was not something that had been thought of in the past and would have been dismissed. The engineering department went to work on it immediately and came up with a solution that allows the trimmer to perform as requested.
The contents of the container is a powdered food so not only was the trim critical but also could have no trace that it had been handled. The containers are screw fed into the trimmer and held in place with a vacuum conveyor and then exited in the same manner after the precise trim of the dome.
The removal of the dome after the trim was also a challenge. With the size of the dome a positive removal was needed 100% of the time. A pick and place design was used and worked perfectly allowing for a conveyor to take the scrap from the trimmed container to the recycle area.
This design will server as a template for future projects that require odd shaped containers to be trimmed at a high rate of speed with a finish that meets even the most demanding of trim specifications. Based on preliminary testing, line speeds for irregular shaped containers can more than double the 45 container line speed for this project.
The most important thought to come away with is that any bottle or container can be trimmed in an automated system. MTM Systems is the industry leader and understands better than anyone else that up time on the line and consistently trimmed containers is what it is all about.
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