Horizontal application of tape system (HATS) : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Technology in Engineering and Automation, Massey University, Palmerston North, New Zealand

Abstract

The aim of this course of study was to design and construct a prototype for the automatic horizontal application of adhesive tape, in order to close cardboard cartons containing export meat product. This method of carton closure has been acknowledged as superior, by MAF and the NZ meat industry, to existing methods and it is anticipated that it will significantly reduce the incidence of meat shipments being returned to New Zealand due to evidence of tamper. Project work has been completed at Graphpak Services Limited - a small engineering business servicing the printing and packaging industries. Key project objectives are identified as follows: • Resurrection and observation of a historical prototype. • Design, construction and testing of a hand held model head for testing and poof of function. • Design, construction and testing of a rotary carton transport assembly. • Design, construction and testing of a head mounting assembly. • Design, construction and testing of a carton lidding assembly. • Individual control systems design for each of the above. • Integration of the above systems. • Design of an overall modern multivariable control design model for the integrated system • Prototype build. • Commissioning and testing of prototype. The project was undertaken in a modular fashion. The historical prototype was reconstructed and a new three step tape application process was idendfied as superior. A new hand held application head was designed, constructed and tested and the principle of operation has a patent pending. A production model has been scoped and partially designed based on the hand held prototype and is yet to be built. This is to be integrated with a selected Rotary carton handling system that is partially designed. Appropriate control systems have been identified for each part of the overall prototype and control models are yet to be developed as stand alone models for each module of the prototype. As testing proceeds, an overall modern multivariable control model will be developed and a production machine will be produced. Other work has included: • Funding applications for the project. • Company infrastructure development for the project. • Marketing of the Horizontal Application of Tape system (HATS). While the overall project remains incomplete, this dissertation presents the development of the tape application head and the overall machine architecture that have been completed successfully.