Application of the Week: Can Pusher

Welcome to another installment of our application series, where we spotlight real-world 3D-printed applications that solve practical challenges across industries.

Each article showcases a specific component or part designed in-house at UltiMaker and used by our customers, highlighting the design process, material choices, and key benefits over a traditionally manufactured counterpart.

In this article, we’re looking at a 3D-printed can pusher used in automated food and beverage packaging lines. Let’s explore how this part was created and why 3D printing was the optimal solution.

Pushing efficiency forward

Designed by our Senior Technical Sales Engineer, Jeremy Evers for one of our customers, Heineken, the can pusher serves as a transport tool in the production line. The purpose of the part is to guide eight-packs of cans from one conveyor belt into three separate ones before being placed into a pallet by pushing on the top of the cans.

The unique challenge that Heineken faced with the original part’s design was that it had a smaller contact surface area and it would occasionally cause the cans to tip over which resulted in production stops as operators had to check and restart the machine.

The redesigned 3D printed part resolved this issue by increasing the height of the part, effectively increasing the contact area.

Further improving on the part design, Jeremy integrated a wear indicator into the design, leveraging dual-extrusion and material-interlocking, the part’s inner layer is printed in a red PLA material while the outer layer is printed in a more wear-resistant material.

Material options

The can pusher can be printed in a variety of materials, including Nylon, PETG and wear-resistant composites. The design flexibility and rapid prototyping capabilities of 3D printing allow for quick iteration and adaptability to different production needs.

If you find this application as innovative as we did, reach out to us to see how 3D printing can help streamline your business operations.