Metering System Solves Date Coding Woes for Olly Containers

Morrison engineered an automated metering system to run 500-, 787-, and 1,000-mL Olly containers accurately over a Keyence date code printer. The system accepts these containers from a backlog before metering them over the printer with a timing screw at a rate of 120 containers per minute.The date coder is placed directly under the containers along the conveyor, represented by a dead plate in Morrison's testing.Image provided by Morrison CHS

The single timing screw pushing the containers along, machined from ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene, provides gentle handling and avoids excess pressure or damage to the bottles. The frame built around it is made with anodized aluminum to ensure durability.

“The timing screw Morrison provided allowed the bottle to transition through the coding area very smoothly with correct metering. This solution greatly enhanced repeatability of coding and reduced re-working bad codes,” says Blazek.

Each of the three sizes of Olly container tested for this system vary in height but have the same footprint. To make any changes needed to run different sizes, “We can either interpolate the screws, where we grow/shrink the diameter of the screws to deal with the different sizes of containers that need to run on the line, or we provide our deluxe adjuster,” says Dustin Lee, vice president of sales at Morrison.The Olly supplement jars differ in height, but not footprint, between the three sizes on the line.Image provided by Morrison CHS

Morrison and MSI also worked together to test run the metering system across multiple lines, covering all Olly supplement container sizes, Lee says.

The timing screw meters containers over the printer, which sits beneath the conveyor and applies codes through a slot, then maintains 8.25 inches of spacing as it sends them along. This provides enough clearance to avoid trouble labeling down the line.

“The labeler needs a minimum spacing for the wrap-around label to be applied,” explains Lee. The timing screw both provides that minimum spacing and squares the label for proper application.

This saves significant headaches for MSI, as Blazek explains, “In the past we experienced a tremendous amount of rework due to containers not having correct spacing entering the label head. This led to machines jams of bottles that were stuck together due to sharing the same label.”

By stabilizing the container spacing and velocity through the coding section, the Morrison metering system has improved the accuracy of date placement and overall efficiency on MSI’s packaging line, avoiding frequent manual intervention. And with the containers squared away for labeling, MSI can avoid any misalignment or double labeling.