ORLANDO, FLA. — Rinco Ultrasonics USA Inc. invested $350,000 to establish a fully equipped in-house machine and tool operation at its Danbury, Conn., headquarters and manufacturing facility.
Rinco previously outsourced that work, primarily to Connecticut machine shops, Gordon Hull, U.S. managing director, said in an interview during NPE 2015 in Orlando.
Rinco purchased multiple pieces of equipment, including a three-axis Haas CNC machine, an Eisen collet lathe and, from Southwestern Industries, a pair of two-axis trak lathes and a two-axis knee mill.
Old equipment was eliminated, and tradesmen renovated physical space during the slow year-end holidays. “We were up and running mill parts by the third week in January,” Hull reported. “It is nice to have new equipment.”
Rinco made the improvements in response to growing demand for its ultrasonic welding equipment, including its FPA actuator line for the flexible packaging industry. Hull projected a 30-percent increase in Rinco USA sales during 2015.
At NPE 2015, Rinco introduced the 7-pound Ecoline generator, which it said offers a unit that is smaller in size and weight than competing equipment on the market. Housed in a custom-molded ABS carrying case, the generator is available with hand wand, handgun, hand tacker and hand cutter units. Each is available in 3-, 7-, 11- and 15-meter cable lengths. “The Ecoline is the culmination of conversations with customers about what they needed,” Hull said.
Also, Rinco launched a clean-room version of its Dynamic 3000 series benchtop welder for medical applications. Outfitted with stainless steel covers and seals, the Dynamic 3000CR is certified for ISO 6 environments, allowing a manufacturer to use clean-room approved equipment without incurring additional costs or processes. Development on the welder started in late 2013.
Rinco's new patent-pending hybrid PPS0145 film ultrasonic sealing technology creates hermetic seals and avoids any type of contamination for flexible pouch packaging.
Hull said the hybrid-seal geometry significantly opens the processing window for ultrasonic sealing and incorporates benefits of Rinco's previously patented PPS0145 seal geometry for a 3- to 4-millimeter-wide barrier. The technology eliminates the need for follow-up heat seals and a cooling station. Ultrasonics do not require a follow-up cooling process.
Safety testers UL LLC and the Canadian Standards Association have certified Rinco's FPA series of ultrasonic pouch sealing systems. Previously, Rinco received CE certification of the systems for the European market.
Rinco Ultrasonics USA employs six, including two people hired to run and support the new shop. The operation occupies 5,000 square feet, of which 1,500 square feet is dedicated to the machine and tool operation.
Parent firm Rinco Ultrasonics AG of Romanshorn, Switzerland, employs more than 100 globally and is one of 23 companies in the vertically integrated Crest Group Inc. of Trenton, N.J.
