BACK
BACK
This Document Copyright 1999 © by
John F. Uske (All Rights Reserved)

<Twist Wrapped Candy>

Go Green!
Fujitsu Computer Systems Corporation
<Rose Twist Rapper> <Rose Twist Rapper> <Rose Twist Rapper>
<Rose Twist Rapper> <Rose Twist Rapper> <Rose Twist Rapper>
<Rose Twist Rapper> <Rose Twist Rapper> <New AC Drive by John Uske>
Twist Wrapping Machines

These machines do the cross twist wrapping on the little hard candies you see packaged in the bulk bags in the supermarket. The machine you see above is a Rose Twist wrapper. This is mostly a mechanical machine driven by a single AC motor to drive all the mechanical components. When it runs an individual candy gets placed into a flat square of wrapping paper. On each side of the candy are rotating ring wheels on which are mounted pairs of twist jaws directly opposite each other in a circle around the perimeter of each ring wheel. Each opposing jaw pair is rotating at the exact same speed but in opposite directions. At the 12 O'clock position the pair of jaws at the top of the circle each grabs the end of the wrapper and they both start to descend towards the 6 O'clock position down below. As they do so the jaws are spinning in the opposite direction and wrapping the candy in the wrapper with the resulting twist effect that occurs because of the opposite rotation of the jaws. Before the ring wheels get to the 6 O'clock position the wrapped candies are ejected into a collection bin in front of the machine. The pair of jaws become free again as the ring wheels rotate up again to the twelve o'clock position to capture the the next candy to wrap. Each pair of ring wheels holds many opposing pairs of twist jaws so the wrap cycle occurs many times per revolution of the ring wheel pairs.

On the machine above I added on an AC Vari drive for the main motor so just turning a knob can vary the machine speed. This type of packaging machine falls into the class of what are known as confectionary machines, which are quite specialized in their nature. I have worked only a few times on machines in this class because the demand for them is low compared to the general types of packing machines. Nevertheless no matter what kind of machine it is always enjoying using my electrical and mechanical skills to add or enhance the machine's features and create more value in the finished product.