IXIA Unveils New Five Lane Lid Placement & Closure System
Published:05-February-2010
By Staff Reporter
IXIA Packaging Systems (IXIA), a designer and manufacturer of denesting equipment for the food industry, has launched new five-lane Lid Placement & Closure System.
The company claims that this machine, integrating a conveyor gating device, helps to enhance production line efficiencies by automating a traditionally labor-intensive process and further improving pack integrity and food safety.
The company said that the five-lane Lid Placement & Closure System, which is developed to fit thermoformed plastics lids to food trays of various sizes and shapes, is capable of handling up to 120 packs per minute. Additionally, it can be customized by the Sussex-based company to suit different output requirements.
The company’s new machine accumulates filled trays and using a star wheel gating device, passes five containers at high speeds into a controlled ‘lug’ belt system. The packs are then passed under the five-lane lidder where a lid is held and placed in position over each tray. Using a double action mechanism, the lids are ‘clipped’ down onto the trays for final closure.
The maker also claims that, for added flexibility, the Lid Placement & Closure System incorporates the company's ‘Snapdragon’ quick change tooling, which is designed to allow the operator to change tray types and sizes in less than two minutes, completely tool free, resulting in decreased downtime and improved line efficiency.
The company said that, as a fully modular system, the unit can be transferred between different lines or moved for cleaning. Owing to the fact that the system is IP65 compliant, it is suitable for high performance wash down environments. In addition, the IXIA Lid Placement & Closure System frees up vital production space normally accommodated by operatives and prevents the bottle neck that typically occurs in the manually operated lidding area.
According to IXIA, these denesters are capable of handling closely stacked plastics, aluminium foil and cardboard trays, cartons, pizza bases, pots and containers in different shapes at high speeds as part of an automated food processing and packaging line.
The company offers a range of lidding, closing and gating systems for a variety of food sectors including bakery, ready meals, dairy, meat, fresh and chilled produce, confectionery and pizza and pasta. It is also involved in supplying a series of standard machines and also custom-built ones to suit individual customer requirements, the company said.
