‘Normally it goes slow before it takes off...not this time’ – Ilapak

By Joseph James Whitworth

- Last updated on GMT

Ilapak's Vegatronic 6000
Ilapak's Vegatronic 6000

Related tags Market Design

Ilapak has lauded market reaction to its continuous motion bagger which it launched at Interpack last year.

The Vegatronic 6000 can pack dry and wet products in bag styles including pillow, block bottom, Quattro, EasyPack and Doy-style (pouch) packs.

Andrea Boccolini, product manager for vertical form fill seal (VFFS) machines at Ilapak, said it is the latest continuous feed machine it has developed.

“Every time a new machine model is launched on the market it takes some time, it goes slow before it takes off, but the reaction of the market to this machine has been amazing,” ​he told FoodProductionDaily.

“Many customers in Europe and America have stated it is one of the best continuous feed motion machines available in the market today.”

Flexibility and dry applications

The film carriage design enables packs of up to 280mm in width (680mm for Quattro packs) to be produced.

The Ethercat electronic platform allows the machine to run in box motion mode when longer sealing time and higher sealing pressure are required or match performance of a rotary jaw machine when speed is needed.

It features the ultransonic sealing jaw components made by German-firm Hermann Ultrasonics.

Boccolini said it is meant to be a versatile machine in terms of pack styles and applications.

"Flexibility to us means a machine has been designed in two versions to cope with different requirements for different markets and applications. We split these types of applications into sectors and we call them dry and wet applications,” ​he said.

“Dry applications do not require a wash down execution for the machine but they typically require high speed and dry to us means confectionery, bakery, snacks and dry fruit.”

Wet applications

The machine has been designed with some special features to handle wet applications as well, said Boccolini.

“Wet means produce, like salads and vegetables, cheese and frozen food and we have experience and machines in this field such as machines that can reduce reject rate which is a problem, especially in the produce business,” ​he said.

“This machine can go up to 210 packs per minute with box motion technology for the sealing jaws with special design of the mechanical components in a lightweight design to have proper control which sometimes becomes the limiting factor when the machine goes up at high speed.”

It has IP65 protection with full stainless steel, isolating the electrical cabinet from the main machine frame, with smooth, angled surfaces without recesses.

The machine can handle material such as polypropylene, polyethylene, polyester, up to graph paper and has a high sealing pressure which helps to seal and have control on different substrates.

Boccolini said when the firm conceived and designed the machine it had in mind low cost of ownership.

“Cost of ownership for us means low downtime for maintenance or troubleshooting and this is guaranteed thanks to the open frame design and the accessibility to the machine for the thin carriage as well as the back forming stations at the front of the machine,” ​he said. 

“It has been designed with mechanical and software to have proper control of the moving masses to limit the vibrations which helps to maximise and achieve high speed and minimise the ware of many components.”​ 

Related topics Processing & Packaging

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