Flexibility is key for new packaging line

The bottles are conveyed to Model FOFNT60 automatic inline overflow filler that is equipped with up to 14 fill nozzles. The actual number of nozzles used during production ranges from 14 nozzles for the 2-oz bottles to six nozzles for gallons. This is an intermittent machine, so the bottles are stopped during the fill cycle.

Bottles are admitted into the filler in groupings that coincide with the number of nozzles in use. Thus, when running gallons, six bottles would be admitted at a time. The conveyor running through the machine runs continuously, so a gate holds bottles back at the entrance to the filler and then retracts to admit the correct number. Another gate holds the bottles in place beneath the fill nozzles as they are filled.

With this overflow filler, product is pumped continuously to the fill nozzles. When it reaches the fill level in the bottle, the overflow recirculates back to the product supply tank. This recirculation feature makes overflow fillers a good choice for foamy products, because the closed system permits re-circulation of foam into the product supply tank, although the system is suitable for a range of products including sauces, syrups, light gels and shampoos, foamy cleansers and chemicals, water and other non-carbonated water-thin beverages.

The bottles then enter the IFS Computorque NT automatic inline capping machine that applies and torques caps onto containers as they pass through the machine. The unit features Inline's patented cap tightening system, which uses parallel belts traveling in opposite directions that tighten the caps onto the bottles. Pistons pulse the belts at adjustable frequencies and amplitudes to achieve the required cap torque. The capper control panel visually displays operating parameters and messages for concise operator feedback and maintains the settings in memory for easy recall.

Caps for the bottles are loaded into a floor level cap bin and delivered up to the overhead centrifugal sorter by an elevator/feeder. A spinning disk in the sorter moves the caps to its outer periphery where an air jet blows caps that are oriented with their open side up back to the center of the disk for resorting. Properly oriented caps are sent down a track and into a powered belt for final orientation.

The caps travel under a hook. Caps that are properly oriented with the open side down are unaffected and transfer to an inclined cap chute and are carried to the capping machine pick-off. Caps that are oriented with their open side up are caught by the hook and flipped back into the sorter.

Bottles leaving the capper, pass through an Enercon Industries Corp. Super Seal 100 induction sealing system that heats and applies a foil/laminate tamper-evident seal to the tops of the plastic bottles. An air-cooling system eliminates the need for a water recirculator, saving floor space and money.

The bottles then enter a bottom-code transfer device from IFS that uses parallel belts to grip the sides of the containers and transport them over a gap in the conveyor so that a bottom code can be applied. This is accomplished by a Model 3120 carbon dioxide laser marking system from Videojet Technologies Inc.

This unit can apply complex multi-line alphanumeric information, foreign-language character sets, graphics and machine-readable codes to a range of materials. Information-such as expiry and manufacturing dates, document numbers, system codes, ID matrix and bar codes, sequential numbers, batch codes and numbers, and even information about contents and weight-is processed quickly and easily by the laser coding system.