AHP : Category .:. Loading

Semi Automatic Bag loader - dual conveyor with telescopic action
	Customer requirement: Bag loading system to insert product into a snug fitting pre-made bag. The product comprises 8 thin sheets of flat lebanese bread wraps, which are grouped on AHP collators. Collations arrive at upto 18 per minute side by side. A machine was required to pack the stacks of bread into the exact bag used to promote the product. The system had to be semi-automated, where the insertion of product into bags is to be done by the machine. The packaging style features a bag with high translucency, zip-lock, and seamless front and back faces with full page high quality graphics . Semi automation was preferred to keep costs down, and maintain manual quality control of product . AHP Solution: AHP designed and implemented a dual station bag loader - with a telescopic conveyor action, featuring 3 axis servo controlled drives. The compact, dual telescopic nose machine, allows for a seated operator to maintain quality control, and present bags to the machine. The machine has been designed to positively place product into the bag, rather than to slide or drop it in. This prevents uncertainitiy of placement as well as ensuring flat packing. Twin independent telescopic noses allow independent loading of the two collated stacked products. This machine can be adapated to be fully automated, by providing features to automatically present bag. The AHP designed telescopic bag loader is ideal for flexible or other sheet products such as pita bread, pizza bases, meat patties, sheets of paper etc. The machine is compact in size, and exposed surfaces are made from food grade stainless steel. .

9 axis indexing cartoner
	Customer requirement: Cartoning system to pack a range of sleeved product into a range of different sizes and styles of cartons. Three basic product sizes were to be packed automatically into 6 different sizes and style of cartons on the one system. Additionally, one of the packs was to have a sloping top panel with a tapered platform inserted in the base of the carton, to enable point of sale display. AHP Solution: AHP designed and manufactured a horizontal, 9 axis servo driven, indexing cartoner, which incorporates a triple chamber drop collator. The carton transport comprises four independently driven lug systems which aid quick size changes. Changes of tooling together with some manual screw adjustments are effected by using size gauges, to give repeatability and accuracy. Construction is from durable stainless steel, anodised aluminium and quite extensive use of plastic materials. A particular feature of the design is that there are no chains utilised in the main transport drives. This gives a clean operating environment together with minimal maintenance requirement. This system is operating in Victoria, Australia.

versatile servo controlled Tool Mount for depositor and cup fillers
100kg Tracking Unit 40Kg Tool Mount in operation	Customer Requirement: Tool mount systems with standard mounting face to carry loads of 40kg, and 100kg. The systems were to incorporate vertical movement, with electronic tracking of product horizontally. These were to be used for mounting of liquid and solid multihead depositors (fillers), which was to be used to fill cups at a rate of 300 a minute. AHP solution: Design and manufacture two styles of servo driven tracking tool mount systems, to enable depositors to be mounted. Servo control allowed for precise control of depositor head during cup filling process. Approximately 20 of the 40kg model have been manufactured, which are all installed in California and Greece. A further 6 of the 100kg model have been constructed which have been installed in Central and South America’s, Thailand and Botswana. The driveline mechanisms of these units are being utilised in other equipment because of their robustness and reliability.

Overhead Sweeper for loading product
	Customer requirement: Modify an existing horizontal cartoner capable of 200+ cartons/minute, and equip it with automatic loading systems to feed product from 3 vertical form fill and seal machines. Cost was a factor and so systems were to be driven by line shaft off the main machine, although these units can also be supplied servo driven and synchronised with the cartoner operation, although these units can be supplied with servo drives shynchronised to the cartoner operation. AHP Solution: The cartoner infeed bucket system was extended, and 3 AHP overhead sweeps were fitted. Each was linked to one of the baggers. Although the sweep loaders were driven mechanically, we designed a mechanical phasing device to allow the phase position of each sweep mechanism to be adjusted independently while the machine was running. The height of each unit was also adjustable using a manually operated hydraulic lifting system to be able to adjust to suit different product heights and type. This adjustment can be made 'on the run' too.

Horizontal Carton Tray packer
	Customer requirement construct concept prototypes to pack initially 2 biscuit types on edge simultaneously into an open, light film plastic tray, and then to construct a part full scale system to pack up to 8 different biscuit types on edge into thin thermoformed tray at 25 cycles per minute. The new system was a proof of principle development to automate the current manual process. AHP Solution: Modular packing heads with removable tooling for each biscuit type were mounted onto a packing platform with storage bin handling systems into and out of the system. Heads were mounted over an indexing conveyor which transported the trays to each packing location. System operated at 25 trays per minute, although current advancements will allow the design to operate now at 30+ per head per minute. Thus a three row system can be constructed to operate at 100 trays per minute. System can be adapted to fill pockets at 90° to each other as well as to do some pile packing into pockets, if required. This system was installed in Victoria, Australia.