A new option for automation of the weighing and bagging of potatoes is being provided through a joint initiative by Tong Peal and Pacepacker Services.
The two companies are working together to offer machinery that combines the Tong Peal electronic weigher with the Total Bag Control system from Pacepacker Services – an approach that is already attracting interest from UK and abroad.
In one of the first UK installations for a Shropshire potato grower, the Tong Peal 2520 twin-head bagging machine was fitted into with the Pacepacker Services Total Bag Control system.
The electronic weigher feeds potatoes into the 25 kg bags on the sack conveyer belt, then synchronised control of both the top and base of the bags avoids misalignment to ensure neat, even stitching before they move on to a palletising system.
“In working together with Pacepacker we have realised that the package we’re offering will appeal to many packers and growers,” says Edward Tong, operations manager of Tong Peal. “This is why we are providing a complete service to the industry on these products.”
The Tong Peal 2520 is suitable for bag weights of 10 to 50 kg, handling up to 600 bags/hour. The company’s range of weighers and baggers can handle bag sizes from 5 to 50 kg, using micro-processor controls, and rubber lined hopper in the head for care of the produce. Robust and reliable, they are supplied with fully customised weighing software.
The Pacepacker system is designed to provide fast and accurate bag closing, using the mechanism that holds the bag top at all times before sealing – hence the name Total Bag Control.
“We have designed the system to handle a wide range of materials from paper and plastic to woven polypropylene and hessian, and also thinner sacks which reduces the cost of packaging,” says Dennis Allison, managing director of Pacepacker Services.
Modular in design, the machinery is easy to reload while in operation, allowing continuous running, and adjusts automatically to cope with a large variation in sack mouth width.
