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- Post Date: 19 Apr, 2017
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Visit our Booth at This Upcoming Trade Shows
Booth #3244
June 13–15, 2017
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center
New York, NY
Powder is one of the most common products around. Anywhere you go, you are bound to encounter a product in powder form whether it’s protein powder, baking soda, coffee, baby powder, or spice. With the help of powder filling machines, manufacturers are able to package powder products in different sizes, shapes, and volumes.
Powder filling machines are often used in the following industries:
– Food
– Pharmaceutical
– Farming
– Personal care
– House care
Because powder is not created equal, machine manufacturers have built different types of powder filling machines that cater to different kinds of powders. Some powders have granular sizes while others can quickly clump together when exposed to humidity.
Aside from type of product, powder automated filling systems are also classified by type of mechanism. These are just some of the special capabilities each type of powder filling machine has.
Ideal for free flowing products such as nuts, peas, corns, and beans, the cup filler machine measures a product based on where the product levels off in a container. A wiper removes the excess product flowing from the cup so it is leveled. Compared to other types of fillers, the cupper filler provides high production rates.
A net weight filler weighs the amount of product before filling a container. The benefit of using this type of powder filling machine is that it provides very accurate fill weights. The dribble feed rate automatically slows down as soon as the desired weight is almost achieved. It can be used on a variety of shapes, sizes, and weights by simply manipulating the weight adjust controls.
For fine powders, the auger filling machine is the best choice. Not only is it much more efficient, but it also prevents dust from getting in. You can have your auger filler made so products during the dispense cycle are virtually closed off from the atmosphere.
To pick the best automated filling systems, it is important to consider the consistency of your products. Whether it’s an irregularly shaped product, is free flowing, or piece count type, there is bound to be a powder filling machine that works best with its consistency.
By picking the most efficient automated powder filling machine, you enjoy efficiency and accuracy. As a result, production rates are higher. As with any product manufacturing company quality and quantity must go hand in hand in order to gain higher profits.
You have done your research and have a killer product, an attractive container with a clever dispenser. You have solid funding without taking a second mortgage on the house. The only problem remaining is setting up your production line.
The center piece of the line is going to be the filling machine. The filler is the stainless steel marvel that takes your wonderful product and precisely fills containers at the highest speed possible.
This is where reality sets in. A filling machine putting a watery, low viscosity, product into a 2-ounce bottle can go very fast. Loading a tub with 16 ounces of chunky salsa will take quite a bit longer and requires a more complex filler. The four filler categories are as follow:
Product flows through a nozzle for a controlled time. A product flow control valve is needed to equalize the dose delivered by each nozzle. Once set up, this type of filler delivers the same volume of product each cycle. A timed flow filling machine can have up to twelve nozzles. These type fillers are compatible with most free flowing products that are particulate free.
Overflow filler nozzles are coaxial. The inner tube delivers product to the container and the outer tube provides a product overflow path once the container is full. The insertion depth of the nozzle sets the fill level. On the store shelf, every container will appear to be filled to the same level independent of container volume variations. These type fillers are also compatible with most free flowing products and can tolerate small particulates.
The name derives from the type of pump used in this type filler. A positive displacement pump moves product with gears or lobes meshing with tight tolerances. The volume of product moved is a function of the number of pump shaft rotations. This style of pump can handle thicker product but abrasive particulates will shorten pump life.
Piston fillers work like a physician’s syringe. The piston pulls product into the cylinder and then pushes it into the container. Two Check valves direct the flow of product. One check valve opens when the piston pulls product into the cylinder and then closes when product is pushed out of the cylinder. The second check valve closes on the intake stroke and opens on the output stroke. The piston is slower than other types of fillers but it handles products that other fillers cannot.
Accutek Sales Engineer’s experience will help you sort through your requirements to identify the proper filler for your application. Accutek works with you to meet your packaging needs, no matter what your budgetary constraints might be. Call for assistance in choosing the filler you need.
There are a vast number of different pharmaceutical products available today, in stores and at the pharmacy. These products are available in many forms ranging from liquids, lotions and creams to powders, tablets, capsules, and pills. Manufacturers of pharmaceutical products use various machines to produce a clean finished product. The machinery used to produce these pharmaceutical products include: cleaning machines, mixing machines, filling machines, capping machines, labeling machines, inspecting machines and other packaging equipment. One of the most crucial machines are filling machines, they not only make production more efficient but also more accurate. Before a product gets to a pharmacy, manufacturers of the product must ensure that the contents in the container have the proper dosage, weight or count. Accuracy is very important in the pharmaceutical industry because an improper dosage can render the product to be ineffective, cause bodily harm, or in some cases even be deadly. A good filling machine can provide very high accuracy rates, guaranteeing the consumer gets the proper dosage. Because pharmaceuticals come in a number of forms, different types of automated machines are used. Automated powder filling machines are often used on high value pharmaceutical powders to accurately dispense the proper amount of powder into a container. Automated liquid filling systems are used to accurately fill liquid products into containers.
As for tablets, tablet counting and filling machines are used to ensure that the proper quantity is placed into every bottle. This filling equipment can be set to fill a predetermined number of tablets into a container. Other advanced fillers can automatically fill containers with the right amount of product without setting up the quantity. Automated filling systems can also be classified depending on the type of container used. Whether it’s ampoules, bottles, tubes, or vial fillers, there is bound to be a filling machine that’s able to meet the specifications required by a certain pharmaceutical product.
During the filling process, it’s important to ensure that all containers are sterile meaning it must have no dust, metal, glass, or bacteria in it to possibly contaminate the product it’s filled with. Prior to the filling process, production may require a bottle cleaner to effectively remove harmful particles from bottles. After the bottles are properly cleaned they can be filled. Once filled, the next step is to ensure that the pharmaceuticals are tightly sealed by using capping machines.
Because modern filling machines are quickly becoming highly automated, the cost of operation for pharmacy products have greatly been reduced. All this while ensuring that quality is maintained, efficiency is improved. This results in lots of greater production and better profits.
When selecting a machinery manufacturer, pick one with a reputation for producing high-quality, efficient filling machines. The health care industry is home to millions of valuable products. Thus, it only makes sense to invest in the right equipment that fills accurately, performs efficiently, prevents wastage, and seals securely. It also helps if the manufacturer has already had experience providing machinery for other pharmaceutical companies.
Your packaging equipment has been working fine, the filling machine fills, the capping machine caps, and the labeling machine labels, but you want more units per hour. A number of subtle adjustments can be made to each machine to improve the through put of the production line.
The line operators must keep all of the feed hoppers supplying the line full. It does not matter how fast the filler can go if a filling machine is waiting for empty bottles or has to stop while the product supply is replenished.
The filling process can be broken down into a series of operations. How fast the conveyor moves containers under the filling heads and then on to the capping machine sets the upper speed boundary. The timing settings of the filling machine must be optimized each time you change the conveyor speed. Check the delay time between when the containers stop under the nozzles and product starts flowing. The time it takes to fill the container is usually the pacing speed constraint.
Check the delay between when product stops flowing and the bottles are released to move on down the conveyer. If your machine is using pin indexing use the entry and exit gate timing to minimize the gap between empty and full containers leaving the fill stations.
Finding the right combination of conveyer speed and timing adjustments requires patience and persistence. Product viscosity on one end and foaming behavior on the other can all work against ultimate filling speed.
If the capping machine doesn’t keep up with the filling machine, a backup will occur that will cause the filler to pause. There is a mechanism to put a small space between containers entering the capper. As long as the capper can get a cap on every container, coming into the capping machine life will be good and there should be no problem keeping up with the filler feeding it.
Pressure-sensitive labelers can keep up with most in line filling machines. Sleeve applicator machines can be fast enough to keep up with rotary filling machines.
The product viscosity, foaminess and response to pressure determine what filling technology is best for getting your product into a container in the minimum amount of time. Container shape and filling aperture can help make the filling process easier. Involving a packaging engineer in the earliest stages of product delivery design can save packaging time and money.
Thank you for visiting Accutek’s exhibit at WestPack in Anaheim Convention. We hope you enjoyed the show. If you did not grab a catalog at the show, please view our PDF catalog here on the website.
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VETERANS EMPLOYER OF THE YEAR
The process of getting your product into a suitable container and on the shelf in an attractive container is complex. Accutek Packaging Companies normally enters the process after you have sample containers and their closure in hand. We offer a wide selection of powder filling or liquid filling machines. There are four filling technologies. One of these techniques will work for liquids that can be anything from thin petrochemicals to peanut butter.
– Timed flow fillers that deliver product for a digitally controlled time interval.
– Piston fillers deliver a measured volume of product.
– Overflow fillers fill the container to a specific level.
– Positive displacement fillers measure product as a function of pump rotations.
A closure or cap must be placed and secured on the container, once the product is in the bottle. Capping machines range from single cap hand operated cap tighteners to rotary chuck cappers.
Accutek also has a complete range of labeling machines, for pressure sensitive, hot glue and sleeving machines with heat tunnels that shrink labeling sleeves around the containers.
The filling machine that Accutek and you select depends on your product characteristics and the container you want to use. Other factors that enter into this decision are budget, production speed and level of operator training needed.
A simple liquid filling application might be filling essentials oils into small 30 milliliter bottles. A good choice for this application would be an Accutek Mini-Pinch filler that fills six bottles at a time. The caps can be hand placed and tightened with a hand held chuck capper. The pressure sensitive labels would be applied by hand in this entry level scenario.
This same company a year or two later could have a fully automated line. The empty bottles get loaded into a hopper. The caps are loaded into another hopper. The product supply tank is filled and the bottle labels are set up in a labeling machine. The operator starts the machinery and then watches the filled, capped, and labeled bottles collect on the accumulating turn table at the end of the line.
Accutek works with you to meet your packaging needs, no matter what your budgetary constraints might be. We have simple machines that are faster than filling bottles one at a time by hand. We also have automated packaging lines with multi-head rotary fillers and a selection of compatible capping and labeling machines.