Agricultural & Produce

Packaging Solutions for Ventilated Produce Pallet Loads Using Advanced Stretch Wrapping Technology

Pallet loads of agricultural products often contain ventilated cases to allow the fresh fruit and vegetable products to breathe and thus prevent spoilage.

Orion Packaging has developed two unique technologies to allow shippers of ventilated product to effectively and economically unitize pallet loads and get them to market in pristine condition.

Automatic Dual Roping System

The first method is for high production rates and heavy use applications. It is based on Orion's FA turntable automatic stretch wrapping system for the base model and is fitted with a specially engineered dual-rope carriage which holds two 10" rolls of stretch film. Each web of film is elongated through the powered pre-stretch carriage before being applied to the load. Elongating, or "pre-stretching" the film makes it much stronger and also reduces the amount of film needed to firmly secure the pallet load. The dual ropes are then applied to the load in an "X" pattern to provide both lateral force to hold the load together, and downward force to prevent the load from shifting vertically during shipment and transport. Vertical movement of delicate loads such as fresh fruits and vegetables can dramatically affect the quality and integrity of the product. The "X" pattern is only possible by integrating a specially designed servo powered high speed carriage transport system. This allows the carriage to move fast enough up and down the mast to apply the proper pattern.

Once the load has been wrapped, the system has a unique film tail clamp which secures the last ropes of film, cuts them and secures them under previously applied ropes to prevent them from unraveling.

Split and Rope Semi Automatic

For lower throughput applications where an automatic system is not required, Orion offers the Split & Rope system which uses a single roll of 20 inch stretch film to create two ten inch ropes which are then applied to the load. The Split & Rope system requires an operator to attach the ropes to the pallet load, press a START button, then secure the film ropes to the load at the end of the wrapping cycle. Although this method has a slower maximum throughput speed than the automatic, it offers many of the same benefits such as load breath-ability, powered pre-stretch for film strength and economy, and the ability to wrap in a programmed "X" pattern.

Get in touch with an agricultural/produce industry representative today!