Oystar Presents Machine Innovations

The design of the Xpress-WiP system permits very short refitting times, as a result of which the productivity of the machine is increased by altogether more than 30 percent.

Oct 14 2010 --- The Oystar Group will be presenting innovative new machine developments at the Salon de l’Emballage 2010 in Paris from 22 - 25 November 2010, demonstrating the wide project spectrum in hall 5a, booth E035.

At this French tradeshow Oystar Erca-Formseal will present an EF 400 type forming, filling and sealing machine (FFS) that is equipped with an economic innovation namely, a filler that guarantees the highest precision with a very small standard deviation figure of only 0.15 g for a 125 g package. The prototype is attached to the machine at body height so that it is easily accessible when it comes to maintenance thus doing away with the additional costs of a platform. It is powered with a modularly designed system with four pumps, so that any adjustment can be carried out even more efficiently than before. The filler charges cup sizes between 50 and 220 ml for liquid and pasty products such as yogurt, curd cheese foods or puddings.

The EF 400 forming, filling and sealing machine from Oystar Erca-Formseal manufactures a total of 40,300 cups per hour. At the same time different multi-packs can be used; consisting of four, six or eight cups. They in turn can be filled with different flavors so that maximum flexibility is ensured. An other special feature of this machine is the production of 125 g cups without decoration with a plastic thickness of 0,7 mm.

Increased productivity

Oystar Manesty will use the opportunity of the exhibition to present the Xpress tablet press with Wash-in-Place (WiP) system. This cleaning process offers a fully programmable sequence for removing all traces of material from the machine. Different kinds of water, cleaning agents or foam can be used for this purpose. Residual material is also removed from the feed unit and automatically flushed away. This makes cleaning times much shorter. In addition, the design of the Xpress-WiP system permits very short refitting times, as a result of which the productivity of the machine is increased by altogether more than 30 percent.

Meanwhile Oystar IWK will present a tube line that is particularly remarkable for its compactness and flexibility. Construction began in April 2010 on behalf of “FCC Fragrances, Cosmetics & Consulting, a product developer of cosmetic care series and contract packager from Switzerland. With this line Oystar IWK once again demonstrates its comprehensive line expertise: It consists of three machines; starting with a TZM tube supply, a TFS 15 tube filler for metal tubes, as well as an intermittently working SI 5 cartoning machine. The line is deployed for the performance range of up to 70 tubes per minute. FCC will use it to manufacture the widest assortment of cosmetic products.

Line expertise

With the TZM tube feeder, the tube storage reservoir is easily charged with the contents of the tube cartons: The magazine door is swiveled up 180 degrees so that the carton filled with empty tubes can be positioned. The tubes are then removed in the machine and passed on. After the door swivels back 90 degrees it engages in a horizontal position and the carton can be removed. A sliding movement in the magazine and storage area transports the tubes onward which are then individually transferred to the feeder of the TFS 15 tube filling machine via a conveyor chute. During the refill procedure a buffer provides for uninterrupted operation. Oystar IWK extended the range of formats for the TFS 15 from 52 mm to 60 mm at the end of 2009. The new expanded format means that the tube filler can now fill and seal tubes with a filling volume between 1.5 and 500 ml. The overall tube length ranges from 40 to 250 mm. The TFS 15 from FCC will employ this flexibility and fill tubes of the most varied lengths and diameters and then convey them to the SI 5 cartoning machine by means of a feeder belt.

SI 5 was specially manufactured for applications in the pharmaceuticals and cosmetics industry and is able to pack up to 100 folding boxes per minute. Oystar IWK uses a newly developed cycloid drive train for removing the folding box: A rotary one-arm suction system removes the folding box from the magazine, opens it using counter suction and transfers the folding box which is forced upright by means of levers to the folding box transport facility. To change the format only the suction arms have to be exchanged and the position of the counter suction cup aligned with the new folding box.