Uniframe and Tabletop Packaging Systems
A quick browsing of the Liquid Packaging Solutions website will make packagers aware that not only does the company produce complete, automatic inline packaging systems, but also provides equipment for smaller packagers that do not have the need for complete automation. One key component of semi-automatic and tabletop packaging equipment is their small footprint. Semi-automatic machinery can allow limited space to be turned in to a packaging line of it's own.
Most, but not all, semi-automatic equipment can be broken down into two categories, tabletop machinery and semi-automatic equipment manufactured on a full frame. Tabletop machines, as the name suggests, are built on a frame that can be placed on top of a table to fill, cap, label or otherwise package a product. Full frame machines are built on the same frames as automatic equipment, not only allowing the machinery to roll up to conveyors or be moved to different locations, but also allowing for an upgrade to fully automatic equipment in many cases.
Another unique aspect of semi-automatic packaging machinery that can be added to both the tabletop and full frame machinery is the ability to add multiple machines to one frame, a concept LPS titles a uniframe. Likely the most common example of this approach is adding a handheld chuck capper to a filling machine. A simple extension to the frame allows the capping machine to hang just to the right of the fill heads, where bottles will typically be moved once a fill is complete. Such an arrangement can allow a single operator to quickly fill bottles and then immediately seal the products in a very small space.
Along the same lines, multiple tabletop machines might be added to the same tabletop to allow an operator to perform more than one packaging task without having to transport bottles from one location to another, other than across the tabletop. For example, a tabletop filler, capper and labeler can all be positioned on a table or tabletop like frame to again allow a single operator to perform all tasks. The operator would position bottles under the fill heads and use finger or foot switches to begin the fill. Once filled, that same operator could slide each bottle in to place under the capping machine to complete the seal of the bottle. The sealed bottle could then be placed in a nest on a tabletop labeling machine to apply the label, and just like that one operator has filled, capped and labeled a bottle.
Of course, there are many different ways to set up both automatic and semi-automatic packaging systems. The correct variation for any packaging project will depend on a number of different factors, from the product, bottles, closures, labels, space available, production demand and much more. Liquid Packaging Solutions invites packagers to contact the LPS offices at any time for assistance in identifying the best set up for any unique project, whether bottling a few hundred products a month or thousand of products a day.