The HP series fast merger machines are specifically developed for flowpacks and in particular for the part of the line dedicated to the connection between primary and secondary packaging.

Flowpack is a very successful type of packaging in many industrial sectors, which finds its strongest applications in the food industry and in particular in chocolate, bakery and confectionery.

The primary packaging - characterised by a three-seal flexible film pouch - is produced using horizontal flowpack packaging machines that combine high productivity with low costs. It is now common to find horizontal flowpack packaging machines capable of handling over 300 products per minute, in some cases reaching significantly higher figures.

The secondary packaging is usually cardboard trays or displays and dedicated machines are able to handle the output of the primary and often easily exceed it. Market-leading secondary machine manufacturers can handle as many as 800 pieces per minute in a single row. The typical configuration of this type of machine involves a pocket sorter (Race Track) that presents a flowpack 'layer' to a robot, typically with two or three degrees of freedom.

A high-end secondary machine may be able to support the output of two or three primary flowpack machines; for other types of packaging where the primary packaging is slower, the convergence may even increase. A dedicated high-productivity flowpack bundler is no longer a simple accessory to the packaging line, but a machine dedicated to solving multiple critical issues.

The first fundamental aspect to consider is that flowpacks, being a type of flexible packaging with residual appendages, require delicate handling. Products intended for this type of packaging tend to be particularly fragile or subject to deformation. For these reasons, an accumulation management is to be ruled out absolutely, since the products must never touch each other.

Second critical point that is often underestimated is that, as the speed increases, it is important to obtain at the output of the device a product pitch that is as regular as possible. A "train" management could result in instantaneous speeds for the secondary packaging machine exceeding the productivity limits achievable by the machine itself.

In the light of these problems, the solution proposed by the HP unification units developed by MH provides for a one-by-one product phasing, realised with a multi-carpet system equipped with independent drives for each of the infeed tracks. This advanced control system optimises the pitch between outfeed packages, ensuring precise, non-contact timing to eliminate the risk of jamming, overlapping or damage.