Italian sachet and stickpack machine manufacturer Boatopack has appointed Partners in Packaging (Machine Systems Ltd) as its UK and Ireland agent. This new partnership coincides with the launch of a new machine, the Tornado Flow - multilane vertical flowpack machine - which is available for the UK market immediately.
Speaking at the show PiP's Duncan Macintyre said, "The Boatopack product range fits in very well and has a strong synergy with the rest of our line of feeding and cartoning systems for both the food and pharmaceutical Industries. With over half a century of expertise producing machines for packing powdered and granular product, liquids and wet wipes, it has some of the most advanced machines available on the market today and an established reputation."
The Tornado Flow is a new concept 4,5 or 6 lane flowpacker capable of producing pillow bags on a multi lane machine from a single reel of film. The patent pending technology allows independent control of the tension of each lane of material, using a double servo motor system which pulls the material, rather than the sealing jaws undertaking this function.
Speeds of 40 to 80 cycles per minute can be achieved on each lane, depending on bag size and the material used, enabling a total output between 160 - 480 bags per minute in pillow style. In future gusseted and square-bottomed bags will be an option, as will a pulse sealing capability. Thermal control is independent on each of the lanes. Depending on the lane format, 200mm long bags can be produced in 135 (4 lane), 110 (5 lane) and 90mm (6 lane) widths.
The multilane format means a great saving on conventional formats where more than one machine would be necessary, while the use of a single reel of wrapping material greatly facilitates continuous production, as only one reel change per day/shift would normally be required. The upper machine has been designed to accommodate a range of dosing systems for powders, liquids and solids - including auger, volumetric, flowmeter and piston as well as weighing and counting equipment.
"All of Boatopacks machines are built with a modular concept that offers rapid, repeatable size changes with very low maintenance. The base machines are available with a wide variety of different and flexible feeding systems, enabling Boatopack to offer for a wide spectrum of products," added PiP's Duncan Macintyre.