In this challenge, Dartronics, Inc. operated as an OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) for a fellow leading distributor of packaging solutions. Their customer is a leading RV replacement parts, hardware, and accessories supplier, with a product lineup that includes everything from hardware to electrical, plumbing to LP Gas, and much more! They package 5,000 clamshell containers by hand daily, which became very problematic for several reasons. Packaging 5,000 clamshells daily by hand takes up a lot of physical space for the company; each packer needs their packaging area. Also, manually packaging that many clamshells began causing ergonomic injuries and discomfort to their employees. The customer required a clamshell feeding conveyor system with custom automation–fortunately, our Dartronics Inc, Engineering team jumped into action and drew up a proposed system.

Proposed System: Dartronics ClamShell Denester Conveyor & Closing System

Major System Components:  

• • • Reciprocating Placer to Denest Clamshells
    • Custom Indexing Conveyor
    • Card Placer
    • Plow Close Mechanism
    • Clamshell Closer

Custom Solution Description:

Our custom clamshell denester conveyor & closing system proved a successful solution for the customer. Its new and faster way to package thousands of plastic clamshells, takes up less space, requires less operators, while simulatenously ramping up production from 5,000 to 15,000 clamshell containers a day! Most importantly, the operation of our new custom machinery can be mastered as explained in the description below:

• Dartronics manufactured a clam shell denesting, conveying and closing system with four basic product sizes.
• Clam shells will be loaded into a magazine 4-up, picked and placed onto an indexing conveyor. The clam shells are placed down perpendicular onto the conveyor with the open cavity facing the operator and lid facing away. The blister moves sideways down the indexing conveyor. The hinge is parallel to the motion of travel.
• The Servo driven Indexing conveyor will index four times with a short pause “X” between the 1st through 4th blister for card inserting and final clam shell pinched closed. After the 4th blister, the index conveyor will have a longer pause “XX” for manual filling and the placement of four new clam shells.
• The indexing conveyor has a fixed back rail and adjustable front rail with toolless change over. The rails are spaced far enough for the clamshell to nest between the rails with minimal movement.
• The indexing conveyor has lugs that push the placed clamshells down the conveyor. The pitch between products is 6”.
• Operators will hand place the products into the clam shells.
• The conveyor will index automatically based on a timer or just after placement of next set of clam shells. The minimum cycle time is 6 seconds for the placer. After further testing more time may be needed reducing the output.
• Time based: The index conveyor will move 1st blister into position, pause for X seconds allowing time for the card to be inserted and clam shell to be closed. The index conveyor will move the 2nd blister into position and pause for X seconds for 2nd card to be inserted and next clam shell to be closed. The index conveyor will move the 3rd blister into position and pause for X seconds for 3rd card to be inserted and a 3rd clam shell to be closed. The index conveyor will move the 4th blister into position and pause for XX seconds for 4th card to be inserted, a 4th clam shell to be closed, manual loading of product, and blister placement onto conveyor. It is estimated that the short pause for card inserting and closing is less than1 second and the long pause for product placement and blister placement is greater than 3 seconds. Further testing is needed to determine just how fast we can insert the cards accurately. Additional feeders can be added to speed up process.
• Each time a blister with card is inserted, a pneumatic mechanism will press down the inserted cards to seat them properly.
• The lid of the clam shell will be plowed over and then pinched closed.
• The system is operated by a PLC “Programmable Logic Controller” with color touch screen with the exception of the placer and card feeder having their own controls, integrated with the main PLC.

The system is capable of producing up to 32 clamshells per minute. There will be maximum of 8 placements of 4 clamshells every cycle. Placer cycle of a minimum of 7.5 seconds. Of course, the speed can be reduced for more complex filling, fewer or less trained operators.

Clamshell Denester Conveyor & Closing System In Action:

The Results:

After a few short weeks, our engineering team was able to build and test the clamshell denester conveyor and closing system. We produced excellent samples, and the customer happily picked up the machinery for their facility.

For more info on the above project, or if you have one in mind, call and speak to our Engineers now for a free evaluation! Our expert team is here to help make your line simpler to operate, with faster speeds that will increase your ROI.  Take A Free Evaluation!. Email us at Sales@dartronics.com or Call Dartronics at +1 (800) 298-8936  for more info.

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