Fill, seal, done

Task definition:

A customer was looking for a filling line for liquids in small shot bottles and wide-mouth jars with herbaceous or chunky products. The requirements included a filling line for two different containers: wide-neck twist-off jars (approx. 250 ml) and shot bottles (approx. 60 ml). The wide-mouth jars had to be turned first. The integration of a gear pump for filling the shot bottles and a capper for short screw caps and large twist-off lids was required. Furthermore, a washing tunnel was to be integrated, and due to the limited space available, a U-shape was required for the arrangement of the system.

Objective:

The objective was to fill 200 ml shot bottles with PP28 caps and 230 ml jars of cabbage with TO82 caps. A large feeding table was to make it easier to set up the bottles. The wide-mouth jars had to be rotated 180° before filling to ensure that no particles remained in the jar. The jars were to be filled with cabbage at two stations. Two gear pumps were to be integrated to fill the liquid (brine). A capper was to screw on both PP28x18 aluminum roll-on caps and twist-off 82 lids fully automatically. These had to be preheated due to the BPA-free seal. A small washing tunnel was to remove any residue from the bottles before they were pushed onto a labeling machine with a collection table. The machine arrangement had to be selected so that the bottles could be loaded and removed in the gray area (hygiene area) and the products filled in the white area.

Solution:

The system was designed in a classic U-shaped arrangement to ensure separation into white and grey areas. After a round feed table, a jar turner was installed, through which the wide-neck jars were turned by dynamic pressure alone. A laner device separated the bottles on two tracks, which were then pressed onto a haulm/stopper table from below using pneumatic cylinders. Once the bottles had been filled manually, they were released by foot pedal and passed through the bottle filling system with the two Fillogy gear pumps. Conversely, the bottles passed the herb/stopper table and were filled on two tracks after a 90° turn. The jars and bottles were then professionally sealed with twist-off lids or PP28 aluminum lids on one lane again after another 90° turn under the TV2000TS. After passing through the washing tunnel, the line continued to the labeling machine.