Star Wheel Loading Round Products - Custom Automatic Infeed Systems

Benchmark's Star Wheel offers automatic loading of round products with defined edges. The leading product is continuously stripped from a single lane of backlogged product with a rotating, "toothed", disk. The disk then loads the product directly into the flights of a horizontal wrapper at speeds up to 500 pieces per minute. Our machines are well suited to the cracker industry, or any other food industry specializing in round packaging.

In addition to handling backlogged products, our system can also manage non-backlogged items efficiently. The Star Wheel integrates seamlessly with automatic infeeds for product loading into horizontal wrappers or cartoners, providing custom solutions tailored to specific product specifications. The versatile automatic tray loaders accommodate various tray sizes and support high-speed operations.

For applications requiring gentle product handling, such as the cracker industry, the system ensures freshness and increases packaging speeds. Accurate product positioning is achieved through orienting devices, while a variety of conveyor options—including belt, chain, vibratory, inverting, and ergonomic stepped packing tables—enhance flexibility. The system also supports automatic slug loading for thin, consistently shaped products and offers vibratory distribution for buffering and rotating items.