Seal printer with servo motor
September 1st 2008 When Travtec Packaging
Engineering started developing a
hygienic seal film printing machine,
it knew that precision linear
indexing would be the key to
success, so called in
Hoerbiger-Origa.
The brief was to
develop a printer that
could traverse back
and forth across a
moving web of clear
film, applying vital
consumer information
and branding just
before the film seals
containers, prior to
lidding.
The printing on the
film had to be positionally accurate
relative to the container and timed
to the sequence control of the
overall machine. As the containers
indexed through a filling station
with typically 5-10 filling heads in
line abreast, the printer has to
traverse with a demanding
intermittent motion cycle.
A servo driven electric linear
actuator helps achieve the
necessary accuracy and
repeatability.
The design that the engineering
team evolved uses a standard
thermal ribbon printer on a screwdriven
Hoerbiger actuator so that it
can traverse across the web.
Hoerbiger-Origa recommended
a high specification servomotor
and controller, rather than a lower
cost stepper as the motive drive.
The relatively low speed and
precision indexing suggested the
use of a ballscrew axis rather than
a belt drive. It was also decided to
use the actuators with vee-slides to
aid the long term reliability of the
traversing mechanism. More articles from Parker Origa Ltd: | 
