Stapled shut in seconds

It is difficult to imagine the modern packaging industry without battery powered carton closing staplers from Signode. The intelligent technology and powerful brushless maxon motor used in the battery top stapler make it easy to close cartons in a matter of seconds.

Photos & Graphics: Signode / Josef Kihlberg
The extremely powerful battery carton stapler can deliver up to five staples per second and up to 6000 staples with one battery charge. Photos & Graphics: Signode / Josef Kihlberg
The inner workings of a Josef Kihlberg battery top stapler: A lot of technology packed into a tiny space. Photos & Graphics: Signode / Josef Kihlberg

The carton is stapled shut and ready for shipping in less than 5 seconds. In the maxon group’s logistics department, hundreds of packages wait to be shipped out every day – and every one of them has to arrive on time at the customer. The packages must be stapled shut in the shortest possible time. This is made possible by the battery carton top stapler from Josef Kihlberg – a Swedish company that has been part of the American Signode Industrial Group since 2014. The Josef Kihlberg company dates back to 1800 and currently has 35 employees. They develop, produce and sell the world’s leading devices for industrial stapling and transport packaging. The high quality of Josef Kihlberg products reflects the many years of experience and know-how.

Signode’s Swiss subsidiary is located in Dietikon, near Zurich – hand tools, strapping machines and systems are developed and assembled there by 210 employees. Every year, several thousand devices leave the production line – including the powerful battery top staplers.

6000 staples per battery charge

The device, which staples cartons shut in a matter of seconds, is sold under the “Josef Kihlberg” brand. The fast-action battery carton stapler can fire up to five staples per second. With the high-quality 4.0 Ah lithium-ion battery, it is possible to staple up to 6000 times with just one battery charge - extremely high performance for such a small hand tool. The device weighs only 2.7 kilograms, has a digital display, a range of operating modes, and multi-level safety functions that make it the safest device on the market. In addition to the standard model with LED status indicator, there are also device options with a positioning laser system for full device control and high-precision placement of the staples during packaging.

Brushless motors for a longer service life

A whole range of maxon products are used in the cordless top stapler and other products from Signode. Among the components used are motors, gearheads, encoders, hardware, firmware and software. With its brushless motor technology, the maxon DC brushless motor EC-i 30 used in the power tool offers significantly higher efficiency, higher performance than a brush motor and is extremely low-wear. This guarantees a longer service life for the cordless top stapler compared to devices that use brushed motors.

The multi-pole internal rotor of the EC-i 30 has excellent dynamics. And the robust design with a steel flange and housing makes this unit suitable for a wide variety of applications, especially in tight spaces – because with a power tool like the top stapler, the weight and size of the device is important.

In combination with the GP 32 A planetary gearhead, the battery top stapler has the perfect characteristics for precise and quiet operation. Signode chose this motor-gear combination with low-noise operation in mind – because the brushless motor reduces the operating and mechanical noise of the device. According to the manufacturer, the battery stapler is half as loud as a pneumatic carton stapler.

Rapidly packed and delivered on time

Signode uses maxon products in many of its devices because, just like maxon, Signode values high quality and precision. Speed is also very important with in-house logistics. New packages from maxon have arrived including the motors for the power tools, all packed with the fast battery top staplers, because the demand for Josef Kihlberg top staplers is high. It’s a perfect packaging cycle!