Pallet securement solutions for glass

Getting a product from A to B in pristine condition is a challenge for any industry, and none more so than the glass industry. What is the best way to ensure secure transportation and optimum pack presentation is achieved, and what recent innovations have there been to support this process and meet the demands of higher production rates?

Strapping

Plastic strapping is often used to provide stability to pallets of glass bottles and jars during pack movements inside the glassworks and for onward transport to the customer. Pallet Strapping machines can be stand-alone, but are usually integrated into a fully automated packaging line.

A Vertical Pallet Strapping machine, like the 078GLS from OMS, is designed to strap palletized glass containers to ensure maximum stability during transport, handling and warehousing. Such machines typically apply a light compression (2000kg) to the top of the pack to steady it before two 9 or 12mm PET (Polyethylene) straps are applied simultaneously.

The pack is then turned 90 degrees using an integrated turntable before two more straps are applied simultaneously. Applying 2 x 2 straps in this fashion is referred to as cross strapping. Using two strapping heads at once ensures not only that the machine can achieve speeds of up to 60 packs per hour, but also that compression is applied evenly across the top of the pack, thereby eliminating the risk of one of the straps becoming loose. 

Modern, heat seal strapping heads only require a major service every 200,000 cycles, thereby ensuring maximum uptime. Strap seal settings can be easily adjusted via an HMI, allowing a wide variety of strapping products to be used.

Often a glassworks will apply vertical straps to products that are destined for export, to provide enhanced load securement, rather than products that are sold into the domestic market.

Shrink Hooding

By far the most common pallet securement method for glass containers is shrink hooding. An automated Shrink Hooder, like the OMS AT53GLS forms and applies hoods to palletised products using tubular shrink film (typically 70 to 120 micron). Film is drawn from a reel automatically and placed over the pack, which is lifted slightly above the conveyor on an integrated lifter to ensure that the shrink film can be locked under the pallet. Hot air burners then apply heat to the entire surface of the film thereby shrinking to the pack and providing stability, protection and a means of displaying a printed logo if required. Generally speaking, Shrink Hooders operate at speeds of up to 40 pallets per hour, and operator intervention is only required to change the film reel(s). Improved manufacturing procedures are now demanding that production levels need to be raised to 60 pallets per hour or higher.

The new generation of machines like the AT53GLS use four stainless steel, fully enclosed hot air burners which can be easily adjusted to suit various applications. The combustion chamber inside the burners ensures excellent temperature stability and optimises the heat applied to the Shrink Hood, whatever the external environmental conditions. The burners only ignite during the shrinking operation, ensuring considerable energy saving.   

Should ignition be interrupted or any one of the four hot air burners fail to ignite, the automatic flame sensor closes all gas solenoid valves and stops gas delivery, purges the system with air to remove any gas vapours and resets.

High Speed Shrink Hooding - OMS AT530 DUO GLASS

For those glassworks that demand even higher output from their packaging line, the new OMS AT530 Duo Glass, featuring two arches, each equipped with hot air burners is the perfect solution.  The AT530, which incorporates all of the energy saving and safety features of the AT53GLS, is especially designed for the hollow glass industry.

The AT530 applies hoods made from tubular thermo-shrinkable film with side gussets. It can be supplied with up to three different film reel holders, thereby providing different film specifications for different pack sizes and/or the option to load plain film and printed film onto the machine.

The first arch applies the hood and then, once an integrated lifting device has lifted the pack slightly above the conveyor, hot air burners start to shrink the film to the base of the pack, an operation which typically lasts 7 seconds. At the same time, the second arch starts to shrink the film to the top of the pack. The second arch slowly moves down the pack, shrinking the film to the sides of the pack, until it meets the second arch at the bottom of the pack. At this point, both arches return to the home position, ready to apply the next hood.  While the shrinking process is taking place, the next hood is being prepared at the rear of the machine, ready to be applied once the shrinking cycle is complete.

The innovative dual arch system, and the fact that one hood is being prepared while one pack is being shrunk, enables the AT530 to reach speeds of up to 60 packs per hour. 

The machine runs heat shrinkable polyethylene film from 70 -180 micron on 1000mm diameter reels and is compatible with either LPG or Natural Gas.