Horizontal indexing impact deflash trimmers are nothing new; they’ve been used in the blow molding industry since the early 1960s. It started with the Ziegler design that eventually ended up in most of the dairy plants making dairy bottles. Variations spun off including the Brown BT1 and others. Even today the similarities are noticeable compared to the units designed and built five decades ago.
Lectro was challenged by a manufacturer of a popular garden household container to design a system that took the best from existing technology and give it the “state of the art” upgrade that had made MTM Systems the worldwide leader in downstream auxiliary blow molding equipment. They also wanted the same footprint as their outdated equipment.
The Lectro Engineering Company went to work by addressing existing problems and concerns. Foremost was excessive downtime. Although efforts were made with various upgrades to units they had previously purchased, productivity was still below par. Restarts were time consuming and as one area of the equipment was improved, other areas showed increasing signs of instability. Safety was another factor that had to be dealt with. Frustration and costs were mounting with no tangible results. The answer was to take the basic concepts from previous deflashers and redesign from the ground up.
Other than the basic footprint, the new MTM Systems 5000 series horizontal indexing impact deflash trimmer is nothing like its predecessors. Basic logistics were addressed by integrating operator control areas on both sides of the machine. This allowed the customer to quickly access operator controls, cutting lost production in the operation of the trimmer. With Lectro’s emphasis on safety, dual palm safety start buttons for fast and consistent startups, were incorporated into the drive system. To eliminate downtime, the MTM 5000 utilized a direct drive bucket chain drive assembly and a fully integrated moving platen, assembly free of any chains, tensioners, or clutches. This keeps their maintenance to the very basics on the 5000 and lets them spend more time elsewhere on the line during PM’s.
The application for trimming this container was complex. The MTM 5000 had to deflash and guillotine the bottle without flaws. A third operation included saw cutting a pocket mold in the side of the container. A blow out station was also added to assure the end user that they would be receiving a debris free container each and every time.
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