At the recent Pack Expo in Las Vegas, Enercon introduced its latest induction sealing system, the Super Seal™ Touch. It gave me a chance to reminisce about the first induction sealer and how far the industry has come since its inception.
1950 Dangerous beginnings
The first induction sealer was developed in the late 1950’s and it was dangerous. It consisted of a vacuum tube power supply and required a large water recirculation system, to cool both the internal electrical components, as well as the copper tubing that was used for the sealing head. In addition to being large, cumbersome, and inefficient, its high voltage made it very dangerous to use. The coil voltage in these systems was over 2000 volts and many of the leads were bare and unprotected. One false touch and you were fried. But at that time it was, "state of the art."
1970's Solid State and Heavy Lifting
In early 1970, the first solid state power supply was developed, using SCR technology. It was a big advancement, as far as safety and efficiency were concerned. The coil voltage in these systems was between 120 and 150 volts and while it was not pleasant if you happened to accidentally touch it, it would not kill you. It was the size of a large refrigerator, 60" x 30" x 18". And this was just the power supply!
The weight of the system, including the power supply and water system approached 700 pounds! This was the standard of the industry for many years.
1980's Smaller Power Supplies
In the 1980's Enercon introduced the Integral series of inductions sealers. Using advanced electronic technology we were able to reduce the power supply to a manageable size, 13" x 17" x 24". Because of the relatively small size of the power supply, Enercon was able to reduce the size of the water system and mount both in a single package, that was 44" x 17" x 24". Not petite by any sense of the word, still a big improvement over previous systems.
Single cabinet designs
Next was a major revolution in the design of induction systems. Enercon engineers were able to combine the power supply and sealing head in a single cabinet, eliminating the need for long, awkward, water cooled leads between the power supply and the sealing head. The Enercon Compak™ measured 11" x 24" x 12". For the next several years it was the most used induction sealer in the world. We weren't ready to stop there.
1990's Air Cooled Revolution
The next Enercon innovation was the Super Seal series, which became the smallest cap sealing system available and required absolutely no water. This soon became the standard of the industry. At the same time, we developed the Assists 2000, the first power supply that used touch screen technology.
2009 New Performance Standards
This brings us up to the latest Enercon development, the Super Seal™ Touch. In addition to providing 20% more sealing power than its predecessor, it features an easy to use and intuitive touch screen, an all new cap inspection system, supervisory password protection with operator lockout, internal monitoring of all critical operating data, recipe management, multiple languages, universal input voltage compatibility, an LED bottle centering guide and many more features than can not be described in this report.
I'd be happy to provide you with more information on this impressive new system. Who knows what’s next from Enercon? Can anyone say iPhone operated?
Originally appeared in eNews: Induction Sealing Technology 4th Quarter 2009