Child Resistant Cap Testing

The US Consumer Product Safety Commission has the jurisdiction to recall packages that do not comply with the Poison Prevention Packaging Act (1970). The USCPSC has made many recalls over the past several years due to either faulty or improperly functioning child-resistant (CR) caps.

One eye product manufacturer has contacted Mesa looking for a unit that could help them in determining which CR closure would be most effective for their manufacturing process. It turns out that their interest was initiated by warnings from the FDA and the USCPSC about poisonings that have occurred due to the lack of child resistant closure.

For most CR cap designs, a topload force must be applied in order to operate the cap, making it difficult for children to open the caps, hence the term “child-resistant”. For many years after the introduction of the first CR caps, it was sufficient to apply an initial topload that engaged the outer shell with the inner cap.

As time has passed, new CR cap designs have emerged requiring a topload to be applied continuously, not just in the beginning of the test. The plunger applying an initial topload was not sufficient for certain CR designs which lead to the development of the topload chuck, available for all SureTorque units. With the topload chuck it is possible to adjust the topload (force) by changing the distance between the chuck and the platform.

In the future, Mesa plans to incorporate an electronically controlled and monitored topload system into our automated torque testers to make testing the application and functionality of child-resistent cap/bottle combinations so easy a child could do it!

For more information on our SureTorque line of torque analyzers, visit us at http://go.pardot.com/e/37162/2014-10-01/2b36q/105880803.

SureTorque

10 Reasons to Upgrade

Whether you have an older Torqo or SureTorque unit, or a competitive torque analyzer unit, Mesa offers multiple solutions to make sure you have accurate and dependable readings for years to come:

1. Trade-In Discount
Trade in your discontinued unit for a current model and receive an automatic $1500 discount!

2. Setup Markers
On the new ST-120/S machines the setup markers are machined into the framework vs. adhesive markers on older models. This assures setup markers are identical from machine to machine and that results are consistent.

3. Improved Table Vertical Adjustment
On the new ST-120/S machines the table mount is slotted so that vertical adjustments on a setup can be performed with ease and in less time. The knobs no longer have to be removed for major height adjustments.

4. Self-Centering Clamp Assembly
The bottle clamps shut to the center and eliminates the need for the lateral clamp adjustment in older models. We offer adapters that can incorporate old tool designs with the self centering clamps (SCC) feature. Note: SCC requires center loading of the container to prevent tipping of tall products and/or a base adapter for ease of operator loading. Review of product sizes and clamp locations are recommended. SCC is not available on machines fitted with a top-load, load cell.

5. Gold Bottle
A calibration verification device intended for quick daily checks. 3 different Gold Bottle models can be factory calibrated in the ranges of 0.5-4, 3-16, 8-43lbfin.

6. Color Touch Screen with Recipe-Based Program
The color touch screen is standard on the Torqo 1600, ST-120S and ST-S3 servo based models. It includes a recipe based setup with a product naming feature, on-screen graph and is overall more operator friendly. Batch data feature including min, max, average and standard deviation are standard similar to servo control systems.

7. Servo Driven Torque Head
We offer a servo driven chuck to provides torque, position and speed control for flexibility in testing profiles. The servo chuck which is standard on the ST-S3 and optional on the ST-120 provides infinite rotation versus rewind required with pneumatic driven heads. Another benefit of the servo drive are faster cycle times versus a pneumatic drive.

8. Equipment Validation Protocol
We now offer a documentation package intended to validate the installation, setup and operation of your torque tester.

9. Top-load
You can now add the option of monitoring top-load force on the ST-120/S machine with a force transducer input. This added feature provides a reference to topload force and provides testers the ability to correlate top-load affects on cap torque.

10. More Tooling Variety
Our tooling offering has expanded. Our primary tooling is our standard molded clamps for 360 degree capture of cap and container. Examples of unique tooling capabilities include Pump/Spray head tools, Serrated chucks with spring load and a 4-post universal, manual clamp style typically available on non-automated units.