160 eyeliner pencils in one minute. ATN timing belts in... service of beauty

160 eyeliner pencils in one minute. ATN timing belts in the
service of beauty
female hands can't improve on this.
ATN timing belts from the MULCO EWIV
Europe Group of Companies are not only
one of the latest innovations of drive
technology, they are also in the direct
service of beauty. Every woman will know
how to use an eye liner in order to bring a
certain depth and expression to the eyes,
but very few know just how fragile and
difficult it is to move the core of this metal
or cedar wood pencil with bare hands. It is
therefore even more astonishing that a
packing machine can handle the leads of the
eye liner pencil so gently that even soft
This process, developed into a real marvel of technology by Hans-Joachim Lortz, owner of the
LogicPak in Hessian Dieburg, is called "sleeving" within the packing industry. "Sleeves“ are
hose-type wrappers made of shrink-down plastic which protect fragile products such as the eye
liner leads mentioned above as well as, for instance, plastic bottles with baby food or other
fillings which should not be manipulated in any way by the trade. The tightly fitting, shrunkdown "sleeve“ can only be destroyed by force.
As developer and supplier of these sleeve
machines, LogicPak is one of the first ports of call
whenever difficult products or those requiring
protection have to be sealed partially or
completely in a shrink-down film. The
introduction of the innovative ATN timing belts in
place of the previous chain drives and conveyors
has turned these sleeve machines from Dieburg
into an even more desirable product.
polyurethane timing belt can offer.
Hardly has it been introduced on the market than
the ATN timing belt is giving manufacturers of
drive chains sleepless nights. Developed by
BRECO-Antriebstechnik Breher GmbH & CO, one
of the most innovative producers in the field of
timing belt technology and a member of the
MULCO Europe EWIV Group of Companies, the
ATN impressively demonstrates the possibilities
further development of the tried and test
In co-operation with the MULCO-Europe EWIV member Hilger und Kern GmbH, Mannheim,
LogicPak looked for and found a way to optimise the transportation, insertion and subsequent
shrinking of the protective film in a hot air tunnel of tiny and fragile products, some of which
are almost impossible to process by hand, from the cosmetics and writing implements
industry. Up to 160 of the extremely fragile eye liner leads, measuring just 4 mm in diameter,
are picked up per minute by the sleeve machine as gently as if wearing glacé gloves and
transported to the sleeving station with flightd ATN 12.7 inch pitch timing belts. Not a single
piece is broken, something just not possible at this speed if handled manually.
Two mandrels, one to stop the product and one to carry the
sleeve, then envelop the product as if by magic and
transport it to the hot air shrink-down station.
A brilliant idea - but it was the fast-growing market which
promoted and demanded the rapid development of the
design. New fields of application and products to be sleeved
are opening up all the time.
"Our technology makes it possible, by means of special
retainers, to process products with an asymmetric and
insecure surface“, states Hans-Joachim Lortz, showing
sleeved ballpoint pen housings, cosmetic pencils or
pharmaceutical products as small as a thumbnail.
However, the chain drive of the machine did not meet the
high demands of Hans-Joachim Lortz. Although no high
torque and forces require transferring, the machine,
controlled via 11 axes, should require even less
maintenance and be even easier to operate, and should in
particular be easier to set up for a change of format. This
optimal solution from Hans-Joachim Lortz is offered by the ATN timing belt. Compared to other
solutions such as welded flights or chains, for instance, the present application, combined with
a two-part sliding flight system, provides exactly the right flexibility required by customers.
The customer now has lower costs, because the personnel required for a format change only
need to be instructed in the specific tasks, which is a lot cheaper than general training.
Here Hans-Joachim Lortz has a quite simple philosophy: “We have developed a module. Every
operation should be foolproof in its execution. A change of format means red flights in, blue
flights out or the other way round“. No time-consuming removal of chains and flights, making
conversion of the machine for other formats and products a simple task. The operator simply
slides the milled-to-size retainers on to the flights designed for the measurements of the
product to be sleeved.
The ATN timing belt pushed by the drive starts gently, does not require any greasing and
maintenance and has a long service life. There is no question that particularly product sensible
branches are happy at not having to grease the chain conveyor, particularly as the lubricant
presents a considerable danger of contamination for the products to be sleeved.
The LogiPak design of the ATN timing belt is extremely flexible in its application and offers
critical advantages such as:
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use of various flight materials
variable flight pitch
high flight position accuracy in relation to the timing belt
designers can react a lot faster to changing field conditions or products because there is
no need to use a new PU timing belt, with the correspondingly great expense for tools
and moulds
ATN lowers development costs in relation to time. Tests lead to sophisticated designs
much faster.
Based on the proven material composition of the PU timing belts and a good stock of standard
dimensioned ATN 10, ATN 12.7 and ATN 20 belts in four widths, the application possibilities
and flight shapes are only restricted by the creativity of the designers - but, as we know, this
has no limit!