Lantech: A "Packaging Industry First" In Stretch Wrappers: New RS-6000 Churns Out 180-200 Loads Per Hour Without Film Breaks

Thursday, March 01, 2007

Lantech's revolutionary RS-6000 20-second stretch wrapping system meets the needs of consumer product companies shipping high volumes of pallet loads, providing the highest capacity in the industry at 180-200 loads per hour. A "first" in the packaging industry, the new RS-6000 Ring-Straddle design introduces a unique and patent-pending film delivery system capable of wrapping loads with 50-ga. film, pre-stretched 250% or more - without film breaks. According to Lantech, the new pre-stretch head and speed wrap get film onto the load so quickly that almost all film recovery (the film trying to "un-stretch" itself) occurs on the load, resulting in high containment force and reduced film use.

Developed to the specifications of a leading consumer goods manufacturer, the RS-6000 automatic conveyorized stretch wrapping system enables OEM's to satisfy mass merchandisers who want more SKU's in their warehouses, wider brand selection on their shelves and faster turnover of smaller inventories. "The new requirement from big retailers is 40-inch load height, not 70-inch, so the same volume of product has to ship on twice as many pallets," explains William Caudill, Lantech's marketing manager for automatic stretch wrapping products. "Suppliers want to minimize floor space and capital equipment with a single high-speed stretch wrapper that can match the 20-second cycle time of today's fastest palletizers, and the RS-6000 has been developed for this specific requirement." He adds that all suppliers to the large retailers are being affected, including household chemicals, food, drugs, cosmetics and beverages.

The RS-6000 Ring-Straddle? stretch wrapper can wrap loads up to 50" x 50" x 80" (LWH). Starting and ending the wrap cycle is a new cut-and-clamp system that combines a new heat-free Press 'n Seal film sealing system. "A cut/clamp/seal cycle takes 4-5 seconds with a typical system, but this new patent-pending system gets it down to about 1.5 seconds to reduce our total cycle time," Caudill says.

Standard on the RS-6000 is Lantech's patented Pallet-Grip® system for locking a load to a pallet. Pallet-Grip effectively attaches a load to the pallet with bottom wraps of film that have been twisted into a cable along the lower 4-6 inches of the web. This tightly wound film cable is wrapped with 50% higher wrap force as it is secured an inch or two below the deck of the pallet, while the remaining film web stays above the deck and secures the load. Pallet-Grip wrapping leaves the fork-truck through holes open, ensuring that wrap force is never weakened.
The new film delivery system can wrap the complete pallet all the way to floor level without a load lift, saving $10-15,000 per machine. The new system also allows loads to be wrapped with as little as two pounds force. "Light loads are a problem for an electrically powered pre-stretch system, because the load always has to pull on the film to keep the system in dispensing mode. This machine can put a dust cover on a pallet of uncased paper towels, without deforming the load, twisting it, or crushing product on the corners," he says.

Clever design eliminates all overhead maintenance items that might require a ladder or man-lift. Pre-wired at the factory, the new design also allows the machine to ship in a single closed truck with its standard three sections of conveyor. It can be set up in one day, compared to three days normally needed for a typical overhead stretch-wrapping machine. The control system for the machine is based on an Allen Bradley CompactLogix PLC and PanelView Plus color touch screen.

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