Hawaiian Candy Wraps and Bagging

Hawaiian Host is a leading exporter of Hawaiian chocolates and the fourth-largest chocolate exporter. Its output has continued to grow, with the recent introduction of one- and two-pack snack packages, and the placement of multiple such small packages in stand-up pouches in order to achieve greater market appeal. The practical application of these new packaging is a major commercial initiative. The Hawaiian Host's factory in Gardena, California, must start from scratch. However, this tuition fee is too high, because the new stand-up bags, branded My Hawaii, reduce the cost of Hawaiian Host products, making them more attractive to consumers and large retailers throughout the United States.

To meet these needs, the Hawaiian Host installed a paper cutter, a Linium 301(TM) horizontal wrapper, a Bagger Boss(TM) automatic bagging machine, and a Bosch packaging technology company Doboy B. 500(TM) capping machine. “We saw this equipment at the 2002 PACK EXPO in Chicago and decided that it will meet our requirements for a flexible and reliable packaging system and also that we will be able to recover our investment soon,” said plant manager Ron Uno. Thanks to 10 years of solid partnership with Doboy's sales partner Nevco in Southern California, Hawaiian Host is confident in the quality of packaging equipment and service support. Hawaiian Host immediately purchased the equipment and installed it at the end of 2002. Doboy assisted in the installation and startup of the device.

Wrapping, coding, weighing and inspection

In the case of two-pack packaging, the first operation is that the cutter cuts individual cardboard cards from a roll of paper, folds one longitudinal edge of each paper card into a “U” shape, and then places them in a single row. On the conveyor belt. The conveyor belt carrying them passed by the workers. The workers placed two pieces of Hawaiian brownie on a paper card. One pack does not use paper cards. In one-pack packaging, workers put chocolate directly on a conveyor belt. The conveyor belt continues to move forward and into the Linium 301 horizontal packaging machine. The packaging machine pulls the film from the film roll mounted on the top of the machine and bypasses a series of rollers into the wrapper section. The machine wraps the film around the candy, and a longitudinal fin seal on the back of the package forms the film into a continuous tube. The film tube passes through a set of rollers equipped with heating rods, which are transversely sealed by heating rods and then individually wrapped to be cut. The Markem 9840 Touch Dry coder prints the date code on the film before the film passes over a roller to wrap the product. The roller used in the Touch Dry coder is immersed in hot melt ink that does not spill, splash or smear the film. The ink is instantly dry, so the film is less likely to be soiled.

The PLC-controlled packaging machine is equipped with a graphic control panel and servo-driven feed, wing sealing wheels, side slots and cutting heads. The operator can programmatically set the package length, operating speed, and dwell time for each product, and the data will be stored in memory. When switching to a different product, the operator simply switches in the product name and the machine automatically switches to the new operating setup. The packaging machine is currently running at 100 packs/minute, but it can also reach 300 pieces/minute if needed.

The packaging leaving the packaging machine passes through a Lock Inspection Systems WeighChek weighing device and then through the Lock Met 30+ metal detector. The accuracy of the weighing device is 1/2g, which allows you to save the speed and other operating settings of various products in memory. You can recall settings by pressing a button. Metal detectors feature screen analysis of detection parameters, which provides an intuitive description of the presence of contaminants.

Weighing and filling

The packages leaving the metal detectors were collected by the workers in silos and sent to the next room where they were loaded into 6-oz bags using the Bagger Boss automatic bagging machine.

One and two candies are poured into a ground fabric bucket that feeds the lift. The lift lifts the candy up to Yamato's 14 radiating weighing systems. The weighing system is installed above the Bagger Boss automatic bagging machine. On the platform. The product falls into a vibratory feeder and is then sent from the feeder to the vibrating top cone of the weighing system. A programmable load cell under the central cone controls the discharge of the product and maintains the correct amount of product in the cone.

The Yamato weighing system consists of 14 individual weighing heads mounted around the vibrating top cone. Each weighing head has a vibratory feed tray, a feed hopper, and a hopper. The product is removed from the cone, into a vibratory feed tray that can be controlled to switch, and the feed tray is operated for a pre-set period of time so that a predetermined amount of product enters the feed hopper.

Next, the hopper discharges the product into the weighing hopper. The amount of product delivered to each hopper is approximately one-third to one-sixth of the weight of the final package. For each weighing, the control system chooses to add up to the weight of the total package and not less than the weight of the package. 3 or 4 hoppers. These weighing hoppers then unloaded the product into the chute and into the hopper of the Bagger Boss bagging machine.

Each discharge operation is recorded on the computer monitor of the weighing system, and the loading weight (calculated release product) and statistical data are displayed. As the batch product passes through the system, the weighing system automatically calibrates itself, tracks the product, and constantly compensates and updates the data for optimal sensitivity.

The Bagger Boss bagging machine puts the product into a prefabricated window-opening stand-up pouch. Because of the lighter weight of the product in a single package, Hawaiian Host Company has purposely equipped Bagger Boss, a standard model, to fill the bottom of the upright bag with the wrapped one or two pieces of candy.

The first step for the operator to start the operation is to manually place the hole at the top of the bag into the station of the bagging machine. In each filling cycle, a stream of air is used to blow open the bag and the filling bucket is turned into the bag at an angle. The bottom of the hopper's grapple opens and discharges its loaded product. The grab is then closed and the hopper retracts to accept the next product from the weighing device.

The robotic finger enters the bag, grasps the side and straightens it out of the hole station. The mechanical finger then translates the angle laterally and places the bag in the B500 envelope machine. After the top of the packaging bag with the small holes is cut, the sealing machine seals the top of the packaging bag. The system proved to be very efficient and reliable, with 15 bags per minute.

The Hawaiian Host used Doboy's equipment to achieve maximum production and productivity, and they were very satisfied with the equipment. "The Linium 301 is fantastic. It handles everything we try, and even packages products that weren't intended to be packaged with it," said Ron Uno, plant manager at Hawaiian Host. "And Bagger Boss bagging machines are more than we were originally for these products." The vertical form/fill/seal machine considered is much cheaper and the packaging it produces is beautiful.”

By regularly introducing new products and packaging types, Hawaiian Host is constantly increasing its market share. The company is currently considering using the Doboy Paloma robot to put chocolate into the tray.

“Hawaiian Host is an incredibly flexible and forward-thinking company,” said Dave Dillon of Nevco. “Hawaiian Host offers excellent products, and the new packaging will further increase its customer base.” ■

(Slightly omitted in this article)

(Source: PD China)