CHICAGO (Nov. 13, 1:05 p.m. ET) — Consumer packaging goods packaging equipment and carrier handle manufacturer Roberts PolyPro Inc. has introduced a new two-in-one packaging machine that automatically applies high density polyethylene handles on multi-pack items such as larger bottles of water and edible oils.

The new Inline Intermittent Motion Applicator from Roberts — when used in single bottle mode — applies twin-pack handles. It then, in the same motion, separates them creating two single bottle handles at a speed of 20 cases per minute. It operates at the same speed when single bottle handles are applied.

“There is no comparable solution available ... when one considers the moderate acquisition cost, the flexibility of two machines in one ,the 20-case-per-minute throughput [and] the smaller footprint of one machine versus two,” said Roy Tetreault, general manager of the Charlotte, N.C., company which is a subsidiary of Cincinnati, Ohio-based Pro Mach Inc.

The net effect is two single bottle handles that are 25 percent thinner than injection molded handles. In addition, the same packaging line can used to produce cases both for club stores and convenience stores, said Roberts PolyPro when it introduced the inline motion applicator at Pack Expo in Chicago in late October.

The company said its extruded HDPE handles and HDPE multi-pack carriers consume on average 5 to 35 percent less resin compared to injection molded products, and that its new motion applicator can apply handles in two-, three-, four-, six-, and eight-pack configurations.