RF-Tagged Fixtures Keep Tray Sealers Up and Running

Tray sealer manufacturers are using RFID to ensure trays are sealed at their validated parameters.

Distinct sealing recipe identities are coded to RF tags fixed to each tool. The tags are read by RF reader antenna in the sealing chamber when the fixture is shuttled in.

The fixture identifies itself to the sealer. If the fixture ID doesn’t match the recipe selected for sealing, the sealer will not cycle.

Belco Packaging Systems (Monrovia, CA) and Atlas Vac Machines (Cincinnati) offer the solutions as options on their tray sealers.

“Machine and tool inventories have increased at companies as a result of acquisitions,” says Tom Misik, vice president, sales, Belco Packaging. “We have one customer preparing to order many tools across multiple machines. In environments where people are making a lot of changeovers, the system reduces machine down time.”

Atlas Vac offers an RFID system across all its machines, says John Abraham, president, Atlas Vac.

“You have operators that are only permitted to select the recipe, and load the tool,” Abraham says. “If the two don’t match, they can’t proceed with the sealing. [At companies where] multiple products and tools are converging on one sealer [the RF solution] is a good way to prevent mix-ups. The supervisor isn’t being called in constantly to change over for the next set up.”

With password access, tags can be over written with a new recipe. “The Omron tags and reader head we use is rugged,” Abraham adds. “We’ve had no failures.”