Suitable for salad and vegetable growers in particular, the flow-wrapper is mounted on a robust stainless steel support frame to ensure stability and rigidity when sitting on the harvesting rig. This enhancement allows the flow-wrapper to be easily repositioned when the sides of the rig are folded up for transportation between fields and even countries. It also boasts an integrated ink jet coder and labeller.

Specially developed for wet environments, the bespoke flow-wrapper features a hygienic design and offers easy access to mechanical and electrical components. It meets full wash down requirements and has water drainage channels from the infeed. 

The machine, which operates up to 120 packs per minute with a low maintenance box motion sealing system, has a ‘plug and play’ two-part infeed which allows it to be used with different types of rig and across a variety of  applications. Offering fast changeover, the settings can be stored on the front facing USB port and transferred to different machines.

Simon Martin, sales manager at Paramount Packaging, comments: “We have seen increasing demand for automated flow-wrappers that offer high speed yet accurate and reliable operation in harsh outdoor environments, and in all weather conditions. However, a standard flow-wrapper requires careful handling and positioning meaning it might not offer the performance and efficiency benefits required by today’s salad and vegetable growers.

“As a result, we developed the rigid stainless steel frame with heavy duty castors to allow the flow-wrapper to be moved around more easily, and to be taken on and off field harvesting rigs simply and quickly. It also provides a stable mounting for the labeller which on an inverted wrapper would normally be freestanding on the floor underneath the infeed.”

A 12in colour touch screen and multi lingual operator interface can be customised using images, words and illustrations for simplicity and fast and accurate diagnostics, and enables easy operation by foreign workers. The USB port facilitates machine back up and allows product data to be uploaded easily.   

Suitable for the overwrapping of irregular shaped, fragile or sticky products such as fish, sausages or IV bags, Fuji’s Alpha VII back seal flow-wrappers feature bottom film feeds for easy, positive transfer of product from the infeed conveyor to the film tube.

The range is capable of operating at speeds to 250 ppm, with a maximum film width of 650mm and cut off length of 430mm, and capable of handling products measuring up to 200mm (width) and 100mm (height).