Two Fuji flowwrappers in the foreground of the photo are supplied with puffed-rice bars by a TLM F44 picker line, which appears in the background. Of special note here is the chain speed of the two flowwrappers. Both machines run at a chain speed of 1,000 mm per second. The TLM F44 pick and place robots are able to place a puffed-rice bar ahead of each flight. 1,000 mm per second corresponds to a rate of 9.1 bars per second or 550 bars per minute with a flight spacing of 177.8 mm.

Alternatively, plastic trays can be filled with puffed-rice bars and then be flowwrapped on the same packaging line. In TLM packaging machines most functions take place in the machine software. This is what makes it possible to achieve performances and ensure the flexibility required for continual adaption to market changes at the same time.

For the past few months, the Loacker brand Quadratini product has been packaged in shipping cartons (folding cases) on a TLM machine. Quadratini are little waffle wafers that taste great and are packaged in flat-bottomed bags. Approximately 100 bags per minute are fed in from the left on a continuously running belt. The TLM picker station then groups them on a grouping belt to form package layers. After that, they are fed to a TLM-F2 robot. The TLM box erector erects the shipping carton. It can be either a pre-glued folding case or a flat box blank. The boxes are filled in layers, during which the bags can be lying or standing, and are then closed.

The Loacker TLM packaging machine consists of submachines, which are connected from left to right as follows: erecting, filling, closing and grouping machine.

The filled boxes exit the machine to the right. The format change to various box sizes and to two bag sizes is carried out through the tool change required on TLM machines. This is supported by the TLM system and is completed in just a few minutes. All gluing nozzles are adjusted with motors by the size change program.

Since January 2005, 80,000 to 160,000 biscuits an hour from the specially selected Wernli AG assortment are carefully packaged into trays on a TLM-F44 picker line. The almost 20 m long highly flexible picker line comprises nine TLM-F44 picker stations and two TLM-F2 robots for tray insertion. The changeover time is only around 10 minutes.

Chocolate box selections are packaged on this line which encompasses 20 infeed belts and 10 robot arms. Each of the 5 TLM packaging stations is fitted with 2 robots (Schubert standard), picking 220 chocolates per minute off the belt and positioning them in trays. The system packs 1100 chocolates per minute in total.

Working in cooperation with the engineers from the confectionery company Storck, we adapted our TLM packaging machine for a new Storck Product. A product that we knew nothing about – except that it was new. Octagonal two-part cartons had to be erected. The product had to be picked from the continuously running chain of a coiling machine and placed into the box bases in groups of 15 or 25. Subsequently the filled bottom parts are lidded. The changeover of the machine between the different carton sizes is accomplished in minutes.