September 12, 2022
Using a needle to inject concentrate into a pre-roll, it is necessary to keep the concentrate at the optimum temperature so that it can flow freely through the delivery system, and ultimately through the needle for accurate placement of the concentrate within the pre-roll. Some concentrates have the tendency to freeze or nearly freeze up in the needle because the needle is exposed to the room environment, which could be cooler than expected, especially during the hot months of summer. At Credence, we continually look for issues like this and come up with ways to prevent them from causing lost product or downtime. The PRI-600 pre-roll infusion machine has a 4” long needle and is therefore prone to allow the concentrate inside to freeze if there is a long delay between pre-roll infusions. To alleviate this problem, we attached our patented needle heater to a spring-loaded beam that holds the needle down at the needle tip just above the needle port holes. As the pre-roll is raised by the system elevator, it makes contact with the bottom surface of the needle heater and pushes it upward as the needle enters. Heat is generated throughout the needle as it goes up and down on each cycle, keeping the internal concentrate liquid flowing smoothly. We added another software feature where, if there is a delay by a predefined time in infusing the next pre-roll, the elevator automatically raises slowly while a warning blinks on the screen. The elevator raises until the needle point is within the pre-roll fixture and then increases speed up and down until the operator presses the CLR (Clear) button to continue infusing. This keeps the concentrate in the needle at a liquid state while the operator is away and keeps the PRI-600 always ready to run production.