At the heart of the line was the new GlobalFill, a two-row design that provides high production volumes in a footprint only 40% that of common systems of equal output. The 110 valve filler uses 10 individual bowls that are lowered onto the bottles versus lifting the bottles to the valves. GlobalFill's dual row concept, coupled with the individual filling bowls also provides the flexibility to fill two sizes of container and multiple fill variations simultaneously. Container changeover is accomplished with a single change part, the in-feed screw.

Hartness' line is controlled in a different way as well. Called "The Dynac Centric Line." the controls used to maintain balance throughout the line are much simpler than traditional systems. Production is divided into independent cells, which do not need to share control logic, and each cell can operate at its optimum rate without impacting neighboring systems. Hartness' proprietary DYNAC systems act as buffers by constantly and automatically modulating product flow between cells. The interdependence that requires complex control technologies found in common lines is eliminated. The entire line can be ramped up and down in speed at random, without consequences. The line runs fully populated to prevent opportunities for containers to fall; yet it also operates without product pressure.

Hartness also demonstrated its GripVeyor systems throughout most sections of the operation, which provided positive control of both empty and full plastic containers. One type of Bottom GripVeyor is used to maintain the proper pitch for the filler and labeler monobloc, and another type is able to control lightweight containers through the buffering and accumulating DYNAC 6400G. The flexibility of both of these systems allows them to automatically adjust to containers from 1.25" to 5" without change parts or rail adjustments.

The Top GripVeyor system provides a cost effective and space saving alternative to air conveyor. It is a simple, all mechanical system that eliminates the need for high volume blowers, HEPA filters, as well as track and rail adjustments. It can also be configured to any need without concern for ramp angles. It grips containers by the neck, and can transport containers inverted to reduce contamination.

The line was configured in a unique layout made possible by the compact helical DYNACs, which use vertical rather than horizontal space to buffer and accumulate. Hartness International Integration calls it "The Comb," so called because all the important work centers are along a common row, and are linked through conveyor and DYNACs that form the spine. The work centers are very close to one another, allowing the overlap of system operators.

The line is an example of what Hartness believes will be the type required for manufactures to remain competitive in coming years. It is designed to lower production costs by reducing overhead, creating flexibility with fast changeover to generate more variety and volume per hour/day/week/year, combine work centers to reduce labor costs, and simplify controls that require less technical support and experience to operate.

Published November 1, 2005