CHICAGO (June 30, 1:40 p.m. EDT) — Among Brown Machine LLC's NPE 2003 exhibits was a single station as a way of broadening its customer base and a lip roller to process polypropylene containers.
“We tried to maximize on the value of the features" for the seven displays, said Jim Robbins, vice president of marketing.
The Beaverton, Mich.-based designer and manufacturer of thermoforming equipment also provides tooling and aftermarket parts and service.
Brown showed its entry-level TS34 Titan cut-sheet thermoformer, which starts at $50,000 vs. perhaps $75,000 in the past for a single-station machine. Brown markets new small and mid-tier machines and systems to those outside the firm's traditional customer base.
The patented LR-2000-S lip roller, for use with PP and other materials, operates at more than 2,500 7-ounce cups per minute and went into commercial use in May. The new machine is based on Brown's four-screw LR-2000 lip roller, which can process polystyrene at a maximum rate of 3,500 cups per minute.
Brown has added refinements to a $30,000 sheet cutoff system that entered the market in early 2002 and can be placed at a thermoformer's in-feed and exit ends. The system eliminates the need for a machine operator to hand-cut sheet material with a knife.
At NPE, Brown introduced its AL90 four-way adjustable clamp frame system, which costs $300 per lineal foot. No tools are needed to change sheet sizes. The clamp frames are optional with new Brown cut-sheet equipment and can be retrofitted on any cut-sheet machine.
A new servo-powered flex feed provides product placement flexibility. The feed costs about $25,000 as an option on new Brown T-series equipment and starts at $35,000 as a retrofit kit on most T-series machines.
