Case Study – Linx Printing Technologies
The Challenge:
Linx had very specific requirements when searching for a filling and capping solution. Their ideal machine needed to be:
- ATEX certified for use in a potentially explosive atmosphere (Zone 1)
- Compact, as there was very little space available in an already busy filling room
- Operated by only a single person
- Rapid changeovers between ink variants and colours
- Rapid changeovers between three different bottle sizes
- Able to handle both screw on caps and crimped septums
Products to fill:
- Solvent based inks
- Solvents
The Solution:
Universal designed a new one-off machine for this application, taking some common assemblies and then designing them into a system that would fit into such a small space. Universal’s ability to re-engineer their products to suit individual customer requirements is seen as the way forward and key to its future success.
The machinery supplied for this application included:
- Rotary infeed table – special design to fit the small space and ATEX motor.
- Posimatic EV automatic filling machine, designed with quick release interchangeable filling heads to allow rapid changeovers of the various liquids – this new design eliminated the need for cleaning as each ink had its own dedicated filling pump.
- Vibratory bowl feeder with the ability to sort both plastic screw caps and aluminium septums.
- Posicap cap tightening machine with two heads – one suitable for screw caps and the second for crimping. Each capping head had its own gating system and could be changed over from one to the other at the flick of a switch.
- The three container sizes were handled in pucks in order to minimise downtime on changeover from one bottle to another.
Linx and Universal have worked successfully in the past on other solvent filling and crimping machines so it was a simple choice when choosing a supplier for the new equipment. Both companies worked closely together on the project to ensure that the specification was right from the offset. There are so few companies left who are able to manufacture such bespoke equipment and Universal’s ability to adapt their machines to meet individual customer needs is a real benefit for customers like Linx.
