Corn sticks are a food product that is a formed and dried foam made from specially prepared corn grits. Sometimes corn sticks are understood to mean similar products based on starchy grains of other cereals.

Additional information

Characteristic

The technology of manufacturing corn sticks is simple, but it requires careful observance of temperature and humidity conditions for the foaming mass itself, as well as for the atmosphere in which the foaming and drying of the finished product occurs. The final humidity of the product is from 5 to 10% and should exceed the specified indicators: corn sticks with high humidity do not have a characteristic crunch, which is considered one of the important consumer qualities. In addition, the surface layer of sticks stored at high humidity quickly compacts, which is felt when they are consumed. Therefore, many manufacturers include in the technological process of manufacturing corn sticks also their packaging in sealed packaging.

For packaging corn sticks, special packaging materials, complex packaging forms or complex models of packaging equipment are not required. A budget option is quite suitable: a “pillow” package made of single-layer polymer film, manufactured on vertical packaging equipment. This is due to the fact that for corn sticks, the packaging plays an exclusively decorative role and the function of protecting against moisture. It does not bear loads (the sticks are very light) and cannot provide protection from mechanical impacts due to its softness and fragility of the packaged product. In addition, the low cost of the product makes it pointless to use expensive materials or forms of packaging for its packaging.

The peculiarity of packaging corn sticks is as follows:

Therefore, volumetric dispensers cannot be used for packaging corn sticks, but only weighing dispensers. Moreover, two-level weighing dispensers that dispense a dose into a volumetric (enlarged) pillow bag. Such are usually installed on packaging machines or semi-automatic machines.

Accordingly, sticks can be packaged either automatically or semi-automatically. We will not consider the manual method, i.e. the method in which the operator receives a dose of the product from the dispenser into a pre-made package, and then manually seals it. The reason is that manually making a “pillow” package will be much more problematic (and ultimately more expensive) than buying a semi-automatic packaging machine.

Automatic packaging

For automatic packaging of corn sticks, you need:

The corn sticks themselves.
Polymer film in rolls. It can be either with or without printing. If there is printing, the pattern must be applied in such a way that its appearance does not change when the package is formed (calculated for the size of the package and the place where the seams are formed). The film can be of any type and any thickness, provided that its top layer is not polyethylene.
A larger-sized packaging machine that will simultaneously form a package from a roll of film, dispense a set dose of chips into such a package and seal (close) the package. Considering that, as a rule, packaging machines have a significant height, it may make sense to additionally equip the machine with a loading bucket conveyor ЗТ-1 (although no one excludes the possibility of manual loading).

The packaging machines that can handle packing chips in a pillow bag are:

Pneumatic packaging machine with weighing batcher AF-35-V (enlarged with a two-level batcher)
Pneumatic-mechanical packaging machine with weighing batcher AF-50-V (enlarged with a two-level batcher)
The difference between the proposed machines will only be in the type of packaging component. And you can read about this in the FAQ “Which machine to choose: pneumatic, mechanical or pneumo-mechanical”.

It is also advisable to provide the ability to remove finished packages from the machine. Otherwise, falling on the floor or on each other, they can damage the sticks packed in them. Alternatively, you can use the OT-1 diverting conveyor.

Semi-automatic packaging

For semi-automatic packing of chips, you need everything the same as for automatic packing, except for the packing machine. Instead, you can use a semi-automatic packing machine, which, although it requires constant operator participation in its work, is several times cheaper than the machine.

Such a packing semi-automatic machine can be a packing semi-automatic machine with a weighing batcher PAF-20-V, if of course it is of increased size and equipped with a two-level batcher (manufactured to order).

As in the situation with automatic packing, it is necessary to think over the filling of the bunker of the semi-automatic packing machine (manually or purchase a loading conveyor) and provide for the removal of finished packages.

Possibilities

up to 2,000 units/hour

Type of packaging

package (pillow/standing)

Types of films

any except PVC, POF, PE