Servos were once reserved for top-of-the-line machines, but no more. Douglas Machine (PACK EXPO Booth S-2223) has announced its new Invex™ ‘low speed’ case/tray packer.

Invex™ is intended to give low volume users access to Douglas Machine attributes—flexibility, repeatability, durability, product handling knowhow, reduced parts count, ease of maintenance—but in an economical, lower speed, more compact footprint.

Invex™ provides all the benefits associated with ELAU’s PacDrive™ automation system (Booth N-3429). Just as important is what electronic motion control takes away—many air cylinders, larger compressors and discrete electrical components.

Replacing air cylinders with more controllable electronic motion equates to smoother and quieter operation, reduced maintenance time and cost, fewer jams. Motors are more adaptable to run a wider range of products, and changeovers are faster because they are readily programmed. Changeovers are more repeatable, startups are faster, energy consumption is reduced because there’s no need for large air compressors.

Douglas Machine’s modular software is evident in Invex’s control feature set, which is unusually sophisticated for this category of machine. For example, the operator can pinpoint the root cause of problems from the human machine interface (HMI)—such as where a jam occurred, how it happened and fault history. Changeovers are recipe-driven, with minimal change parts and simple hand wheel adjustments. Control components are located at the perimeter of the machine for easy maintenance access. Read more.