A cartooning machine, at times referred to as a cartoner, is one of the types of pharmaceutical packaging machines.
Its primary purpose is to make cartons.
A cartoning machine makes cartons that stand upright, are folded, closed, side-seamed, and then, finally sealed.
Cartoning machine
You should ask yourself these three questions when it comes to selecting the right cartoning machine for your packaging needs.
The questions are critical in helping you make the right buying decision.
Often, the type of product to package will directly affect you choice of cartoning machine.
For example, if the product to be packaged is granular, free flowing, the most appropriate means to pack it into the carton is from up.
In this scenario, you option of cartoner will be restricted to vertical cartonig machine only.
Nonetheless, nature of the product may permit horizontal packing into the cartons.
In this instance, your number one choice of cartoner should be horizontal cartoning machine. Obviously, understanding business needs and nature of product comes first.
After determining the product that needs cartoning, establishing the budget for your purchase is the second stage of your project.
Your financial abilities will directly affect the variety of cartoning machines you will be choosing from.
What is going to catch your attention when shopping for cartoning machines that most of the available cartoners are horizontal in nature.
Horizontal cartoning machines are usually more popular because they give users more freedom for a lower cost.
Nevertheless, if you intend to package products such as capsule, granules or powder, you need to naturally opt for vertical cartoning machines.
As a business person, you understand that off-line and on-line packaging have differing requirements for cartoners in terms of their speed and power.
On-line packaging means packaging of products immediately they are released from the production line.
Products should be packaged straight away, so the speed of the cartoning machine should match the speed of production.
To determine the speed of the cartoner, simply work out the maximum quantity of products manufactured every minute or hour and divide the figure by the amount of units fitting into every carton.
Packaging off-line implies that you are packing products that have been manufactured before.
In this situation, you do not pay attention to the speed of production.
To establish the power and speed of cartoning machine appropriate for off-line packaging, you should factor in the following parameters.
Consider the number of products you need to ship every day, week or month.
Ensure to only work with the actual working hours of the cartoner and not simply dividing or multiplying everything by eight working hours each day.
Be extra careful when making the volume estimates, uphold utmost precision.
This procedure is very essential to the future of your business.
Overestimation of your actual needs can result in buying a more costly and powerful machine which is in essence not necessary.
Continuous cartoning machine
Below are some benefits of carton packaging your products:
Carton ensures protection of items packed in them.
Because cartons have regular shapes, it enables bulk packaging for containers, Lorries and other transport vessels ensuring easy transportation.
Recyclable – Carton packaging provides the best recycling capabilities, in comparison to any other packaging material.
Renewable – With the majority of packaging designs, you cannot replace the raw material used to make the package after extracting them from nature.
Nonetheless, you can sustainably decompose wood fiber and return it back to earth.
Besides protecting your products from interference and adulteration, carton packaging can as well act as a tamper proof for the items.
Cartons give brand owners and manufacturers the ability to develop a broad array of structural molds.
Custom-made to the requirements of the items and its consumers, current carton designs put in a design touch to the entire presentation.
This consists of high resolution graphics, two-sided prints and carton shapes that amplify its use as a packet.
Other advantages of carton packaging comprise of:
Packing products in carton
Cartoners are an instrumental component of most manufacturing assembly line.
The common uses of cartoning machines are for packaging pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, confectionery, bottled foodstuff, etc., and can differ depending on the scale of business.
Boxes can play an instrumental role in creating a compelling exterior for your products, and there exist thousands of numerous designs and types that you can use to package items of any shape or size.
Let’s look at some of the common types of boxes that you can choose for packaging products:
Types of packaging boxes – Photo courtesy: Shipping Boxes
Folding cartons are the basic and among the most common types of boxes for packaging products.
The cartons are primarily used for packing consumer goods, and it comes in various shapes and sizes in addition to different graphics and colors.
The main purpose of folding cartons is to provide protection and enable marketing and transportation of retail products.
The cartons are manufactured from different source materials.
An upgrade from folding carton, rigid boxes are stronger and mainly used for luxury products and presentation purposes.
They provide extra protection in addition to high-end finish.
Shoulder boxes are a kind of rigid box where the lid and base do not meet, forming a middle section referred to as the shoulder.
You can use the shoulder to create a feature by applying a contrasting color to the bottom and top of the box.
Collapsible box is another type of boxes that can come in handy for product marketing.
The box helps in saving on transport expenses and storage space and provides a broad array of design alternatives to make your items really stand out.
Created by gluinga bent flute to a pair of liners, corrugated boxes have conventionally been utilized for exterior packaging, though are now getting growingly common within small companies.
You can create them in almost any shape and size and are comparatively cheap to form.
A standard box used in the packaging sector, where all the folds are of similar length from the groove to the edge.
Regular slotted containers are ideal for transporting small individual products.
They do not give much room for customization apart from changing the external design and print, though at times less is more.
Same as regular slotted containers.
Nevertheless, this box type has one open side face making it ideal for sliding over pre-boxed goods.
An unglued box that is formed by simple folding, this type of boxes is suitable for transporting retail products.
Roll end tuck top box is simple but tells a story about the brand and is forthrightly memorable.
These types of boxes characterize outer flaps that overlay the whole width of the box contributing to their toughness and resilience.
They are a practical option for transporting products and you can enhance them with stunning print designs.
A telescope type box comprise of two totally separate pieces; a lid and a base.
They are famous for packaging high-end products like technology, and a popular example is Apple’s iPhone packing.
Another box that comprises of two distinct pieces, this type of boxes have an inner box and a sleeve.
Mailer boxes are created particularly for packaging small items.
They are designed to fit with ease in post boxes and letterboxes for easy delivery.
Shelf ready boxes are manufactured particularly for retail shelves and exhibiting items in stores.
You can design them to display your products and make them stand out to clients.
Packaging boxes are versatile and you can form them into almost any shape and size you want.
Making exclusive and custom boxes for your goods is a perfect way of according your clients a memorable experience.
Cartoning machine is a unit of devices consisting of mechanical, pneumatic, electrical as well as light components.
The parts are linked together in such a way in order to generate, transform and efficiently use the mechanical energy produced from the system to form a packaging carton.
Here is a list of the key parts of a cartoning machine:
Conveyor system of carton packing machine
The end-use industries for cartoning machines comprise of:
Here are some of the disadvantages of cartoning machines.
i. Setting up the entire machinery at the initial phase is costly as the cartoner is expensive to acquire.
ii. Increased cost of production due to the cost of hiring extra personnel.
iii. The machine is heavy and fragile and after you have installed it, there is no flexibility of moving it around.
Absolutely, the cartoning machine blends exceptional flexibility and optimized performance in an exceedingly compact design totally tailored to your operations.
It allows for integration with upstream packaging equipment ensuring seamless manufacturing of products.
With semi-automatic cartoning machines, be it horizontal or vertical, the operator inserts the products manually into the machine.
The lack of an automatic in-feed makes the operation of the machine simple, but significantly lowers the speed of production and throughput.
In addition, it also needs the presence of several operators.
This is a more detailed equipment that does not need the participation of too much human aid in its functioning.
Fully automatic cartoner has the capability to examine the integrity of the carton to make sure that it is of the correct quality.
The machine comes together with other accessories including:
All the operations of the fully automatic cartoning machine rely on a digital control unit.
The computer control unit runs, controls and modulates all the operations of the cartoner with minimum human aid.
SaintyCo cartoners are perfect machines for getting your products efficiently packed and ready, enhancing production and work time.
With our cartoning machines, you will be in a position to pack several products at a go.
In addition, you can as well package products in a bunch more effectively.
SaintyCo manufactures a variety of cartoning machines that you can utilize based on the needs of your operations.
A great distinction about our cartoners is that they use very limited quantity of power in comparison to heavy industrial packaging machinery.
This qualifies them as the perfect option for any low-budget manufacturer.
So, purchase a SaintyCo cartoning machine and improve your output.
Cartoning machine
First, the guide rails set the carton in position before a push mechanism initiated by the push plate causes the opening up of the carton.
Thereafter, the bottom of the carton is attached to a sucker (vacuum suction) propelled by the pneumatic system.
This is done from its rear and front side to make sure that the box reaches the loading bay area at 90 degrees.
At the loading section, the products get packed into the carton by mechanical means, though, gently and accurately.
After filling, the chain conveyor belt directs the cartons to the folding area.
At the folding stage, the cartoner targets the flaps of the cartons.
The procedure is carried out concurrently on both the right and left side of the rail through rotary movement.
Subsequently, the cam linked to motors push plates on both sides of the rail perform the actual folding procedure.
The process then moves to the next critical stage where front covers seal the tongue of the carton.
After this a push is initiated using the push plate, which bends the lid and results in a secure lock.
The cartoning machine then engages its tabs to administer adhesive and shut either ends of the carton wholly sealing it.
Finally, the system then examines the degree of precision of the cartoner.
It establishes the good and the bad packages, by scrutinizing the carton structure before deciding on those to direct to carton chute and the damaged one.
Cartoning machines are classified into vertical and horizontal cartoners, based on the position you insert the carton through the machine.
Vertical cartoning machine
With vertical cartoning machines, you feed the carton into the cartoner in a vertical position and the items packed manually or automatically, in most cases from the top of the machinery.
Vertical cartoning machines are appropriate for packing “bare” products that can or should be delivered by gravity, and which are vended by volume or weight.
Example of such products includes dry pasta, rice, etc.
Horizontal cartoning machine
With horizontal cartoning machines, you pack the products from the side of the carton.
These type of cartoning machines can run in both intermittent and continuous mode.
It also has the alternative of automatic lateral filling of products into the carton and sealing of the ends by flap insertion or hot-melt application.
Horizontal cartoning machines are typically applied for packing food products including cereals, vacuum-packed coffee or rice, cakes and pizzas, etc.
High speed cartoning machine is a more efficient cartoner used for packages a wide range of products into boxes.
Hand-Load cartonersworks by sealing one side of the carton shut, and then products are loaded by hand through the other open end.
The device positions and seals the rear end of the box before moving to the hand-load section.
After loading, the system closes the top of the carton and then discharges it from machine.
Yes, there are tamper-evident types of cartoning machines that guarantee extra safety.
The unique way in which the cartoning machine seal the cartons can assist in establishing whether there is tampering with any item.
This helps to create consumer confidence in your products.
SaintyCo manufactures a broad range of cartoning machines, which come in various designs and production capabilities.
Based on your production requirements, you can select standard or custom made alternatives.
Yes, some cartoning machines have printing capability which enable them to print high-quality, high-resolution codes, text and graphics.
The printing can be done either before or after packaging of products.
Intermittent automatic cartoners is a type of cartoning machine that erects and stops the carton while it is loaded by the operator.
The machines is designed in a manner that it packs items laterally into boxes and do the sealing by lock fastening during hot-melt gluing or flap insertion.
Intermittent cartoning machine
Modifying carton specification will affect the carton tooling machine settings and the main feeding entrance.
It is advisable to start by adjusting the carton conveyor belt before manually sealing the box.
Carry on to grip the top cover and position the carton in the middle of the conveyor.
Subsequently, move the adjustment knob to alter the mid-plate to a position the output strip can modestly clip the carton.
While doing the adjustment, make sure you do not get in contact with the interior crease-slice.
To accurately determine the width, loosen a few nuts on the carton conveyor to adjust the chain plate to equal the width of the carton.
You will have to modify the carton storeroom as well.
In this case, you will change the width of the entrance using a blank or flat carton by shifting the front and back carton frame.
In addition, you need to match the right, left and block shafts with the length of the blank carton.
The vacuum suction device should equally be positioned to match the size of the carton as well as alter the height of carton compressor.
Another vital part that you need to adjust is the plant rum in relation to the length and height of the carton.
The carton side height should be at the carton center.
Another parameter that need to be modified is the position of the carton seal and the batch number.
You should adjust the positions with reference to the carton length and height.
At the same time, the diastema of the batch number needs to be changed in line with carton paper height.
The front plate track of the carton must also be equal to the height of carton.
The new position and width of carton need to be applied to change the position of the carton conveyor belt.
Eventually, arrange the sensors in line with the new machine position.
While operating a cartoning machine, some problems might occur in the process.
Let’s look at some of the problems and ways of troubleshooting them.
Feeding cartons
Solution:
Apply servo systems that will facilitate a smooth operation of the cartoning machines.
Solution:
Unclog the sucker tubing and substitute the leaking sucker tubing using a proper one.
Solution:
Utilizing a photoelectric sensor like multi-pulse technology to sense any fault on the cartoner and alert you.
You will stop the cartoning machine right away and address the issue before it becomes worse.
Solution:
Stop the cartoning machine and correctly modify the storeroom for quicker and correct delivery of the cartons.
Solution:
Stopping the cartoning machine, withdraw the inseparable carton blanks and substitute them using better ones.
Solution:
Substitute the aging sucker using a new one.
Solution:
Overhaul the whole vacuum system and substitute it at the appropriate position.
SaintyCo provides the following cartoning machines for you to choose from:
For custom cartoning machine, SaintyCo is ready to help.