“Meech has been involved in static control technology for decades and we’ve called upon that experience to develop a product that meets the requirements of OEMs and end users, many of whom are unhappy with the in-mould labelling options currently available on the market when dealing with smaller containers and labels,” says international product manager David Rogers.
“The new 994 Hydra system provides powerful, repeatable pinning with no degradation over time. Indeed, the operational life is almost indefinite. With this new Meech system, OEMs are free to make their own label carriers, which can be produced at a greatly reduced cost compared to some other IML technologies. The components of the 994 Hydra system are easy to mount, as well as being straightforward to connect and disconnect during mould tool changes. The design eliminates the chance of sparking and the possibility of expensive damage to the mould tool. The choice of materials ensures that the problem of potential contamination of the container, sometimes seen with conductive foam based IML systems, is removed.”
The standard 994 Hydra system consists of resistively coupled distributors connected in parallel to the new 994 IML generator. The distributors provide independent, spark-free, operation of the pinning heads and have a mounting footprint of only 50 x 86 mm. The pinning heads are only 15 mm long x 5 mm diameter, making installation possible on the smallest label carriers.
“We’ve completely redesigned the static generator to create a simplified, lightweight model that generates the 20kV required for IML applications. The generator offers full remote control and reporting via the universal analogue facility. The easy to fit generator requires only a 24V supply and is light enough to be mounted on the end of arm tool, if required.”
To assist customers, Meech can supply recommendations for pin positions. Customers can specify individual cable lengths for bespoke systems or can finish the cables to the correct length themselves, making them ideal for OEMs.
“There is no doubt that using static in the process of in-mould labelling is the way that the industry is moving, because of the huge number of benefits it offer over more traditional vacuum systems,” says David Rogers. “What we have done at Meech is to utilise the experience built up within the company over many years in designing and installing static control systems, to create a static-based solution to the problems commonly encountered when handling small containers and labels in an in-mould labelling environment. We believe that visitors to the Meech stand at K 2010 will find the low purchase and operating costs of the new 994 Hydra system, combined with the enormous production benefits, extremely attractive.”
