Econo-Pak specialises in the production and marketing of system solutions for picking up, filling and packaging products from the food and non-food sectors. “We have many years of experience in the industry and are continuously developing our technology,” says Max Schneider, International Sales Manager at Econo-Pak. “In addition, we offer our customers a comprehensive service, from design and project planning to on-site installation - for individual packaging machines as well as for complete systems.” The company supplies various industries. However, the largest share is taken up by the food sector and here especially the ice cream industry. “It’s mainly about erecting and closing cardboard packaging and loading it with the corresponding products: from ice cream to pizza to frozen vegetables,” Max Schneider continues. The packaging industry is increasingly abandoning the use of plastic packaging and switching to cardboard. This is the case, for example, with biscuit packages, from which the consumer used to pull out a plastic blister. There is a great effort to switch to recyclable material wherever possible. That is why the company develops not only standard but also special machines to support carton manufacturers in their innovative projects.
Especially when it comes to packaging food, the manufacturer’s machines have to meet special requirements. This applies equally to the installed components, which must be suitable above all for use in areas where contamination can occur and correspondingly intensive cleaning of the machines is necessary. The installed parts must therefore be designed for environments where there is high humidity or aggressive cleaning agents are used. The use of food-safe lubricants is also relevant for this area. For economic operation and low downtimes, factors such as reliability, minimal maintenance effort and high capacities and speeds also play an important role.

Groschopp motors in the upper runner

In Econo-Pak’s closing machines, folding boxes are conveyed at high speeds after loading and closed with hot glue or air. “It can happen in individual cases that the folding boxes are loaded with too much product and the lid therefore no longer closes perfectly,” explains Max Schneider. “A spring-mounted top runner ensures that the folding boxes can still be fed through the machine stably and without jamming or friction, and thus the entire line does not have to be stopped to remove the corresponding folding box by hand.” This is an advantage especially at high speeds. Afterwards, these defective folding boxes are sorted out.
The company has been using a three-phase asynchronous motor from Groschopp to drive the upper runner for ten years. The company purchased the motor from Bretzel in Weiterstadt, a commercial agency of the manufacturer. The main advantages of the small worm gear motor for use in the food and packaging industry are its space-saving design and durability, its good cleaning properties and the use of food-safe greases. But it also matches the machine concept visually and is characterised by its interchangeability with old drives.

AC housing motors with a wide range of applications

All motors of the IG series from Groschopp are robust, reliable and powerful. The constant further development and the intelligent design of the AC housing motors allow various adaptations and a wide range of applications. In addition, they can be combined with various gearboxes and a decentralised frequency converter. Groschopp offers the induction motors in AC and three-phase versions. In the single-phase version, they are typically used in blowers, pumps, belt conveyors, checkout and mixing systems. In the three-phase version, the drives are also used in various industrial applications such as processing machines or conveyor technology. Other applications can be found in medical technology, food-related industries or packaging machines such as Econo-Pak.
The fanless motors have a wide speed adjustment range. With a frequency converter, it ranges from 8 Hz to 80 Hz at 50 Hz normal frequency. This means they can also be operated continuously at low speeds. Other advantages of AC housing motors are their high efficiency and smooth surfaces.
Thanks to the enclosed housing, the drives with convection cooling achieve protection class IP65, are insensitive to external influences and can be used in harsh environments. According to customer requirements, the housing can be painted, hard-coated, silacoated or made of stainless steel. Mechanical modifications in terms of flange, shaft and brake are also possible. Furthermore, the speed can be individually adjusted and electrical adaptations in terms of operating point, starting torque and electronics can be realised.

A reliable and competent trading partner

Groschopp is supported by Bretzel in the planning and design of drive concepts. “The drive experts from Weiterstadt have advised us well and found an ideal solution for almost all small drive tasks in our machine range,” says Max Schneider. “In addition, they have found and also implemented flange-matching solutions for a whole range of competitor drives via special geometries for our portfolio.” Even in difficult times, Groschopp's commercial agency is able to reliably provide the motors from stock. “We are very satisfied with the quality and service around the AC housing motors, otherwise they would not have been in use with us for more than a decade,” Max Schneider from Econo-Pak emphasises in conclusion.

Author
Nabila Dewolfs, Sales & Marketing