Accumulating & Merging Pouches of Wet Wipes - System Spotlight

In this system spotlight you will see how we gently accumulate packaged wipes behind an in-surface product stop and then release slugs of product to merge to a single lane. Our in-surface blade stop is mounted beneath the conveyor surface allowing the system to utilize the overhead head without obstruction. When the blade stop lowers to release the wipes, a gap is pulled by a speed change resulting from the use of press fit rollers. This system was designed to handle both high and low profile packaged product.

Welcome to System Spotlight, giving you an in-depth look at Shuttleworth’s more advanced product handling systems and conveyor applications. In this video, we will showcase a solution for one of our customers that wanted to combine packages of wet wipes. Shuttleworth’s low-line pressure Slip-Torque conveyor was chosen to complement this application.

Discharged from a wrapper in two lanes, the packages are transferred onto the Shuttleworth conveyor, which eliminates damage to the bottom of the product during accumulation. As the packages accumulate behind a pneumatic product stop located in each lane, an in-surface mounted sensor tells the controller that packages are present and ready to be combined.

As they pass over the sensors and the product stops, a speed change is utilized when the stop is lowered to create a gap between the packages. This gap allows the stop to be raised at any time between packages. Guide rails then direct the packages into a single lane, creating a very simple, reliable, and cost-effective combiner.

The combiner can be easily adjusted to handle thin packages as well. By extending rollers past the conveyor frame, transfers between Shuttleworth and other types of conveyors are easily accomplished.

For more information on Shuttleworth capabilities and solutions, please visit our website at Shuttleworth.com.