HEVF Electronic volumetric filling system

The thirty-year experience of Enoberg (company part of the SMI Group) in the manufacturing of fillers and the growing market demand in terms of hygiene, reliability, simplicity of machine maintenance and use have led the company to manufacture the new HEVF range (Hyper-clean Electronic Volumetric filling systems for Flat products).

The volumetric electronic filling system is based on the use of a flow meter for each filling valve.

The flow meter detects the flow of the product that fills each bottle; once the correct volume is reached, the flow meter controls the closing of the filling valve.

The products that can be worked by HEVF fillers are:

• still and carbonated water
• iced tea
• clear juice (such as pineapple)
• fresh milk (7 day shelf life)
• wine and balsamic vinegar
• apple vinegar
• thick juice (such as pear)
• syrups
• soy sauce
• detergents and sanitizers

Operation

1. Empty bottles transfer

After being manufactured by the stretch-blow moulding machine, empty bottles are conveyed from the blower to the filler by "neck-handling" direct transfer by menas of adjoining star wheels. The star-wheel at the blowmoulder outlet is equipped with grippers electronically synchronised with the brackets of the starwheel at the filler inlet.

2. Filling

Once the filling station is reached, a gripper grabs the bottle by the neck and places it under the filling valve. The product to be filled is positioned in an external manifold, from which it is conveyed to the filling valve through a specific pump. The electronic volumetric filling process is carried out through magnetic flow meters, placed upstream of each filling valve. During the filling process, the flow meter detects the amount of product that goes through the valve. The measurement is based on pulses, that are compared to the ones set for the format in use. When the set value is reached, the closure sign is sent to the filling valve. At this stage the filled bottle is transferred to the capper.

3. Capping

A shaped star wheel allows to center the bottle under its capping station. The cap coming from the feeding system is picked by a transfer star wheel called “pick and place”. The capping head picks the cap from the star wheels and applies it to the bottle. According to the cap to be applied (plastic screw cap or pressure cap), the capping system can operate by rotation or pressure. The filled and capped bottle is transferred to the outfeed conveyor.

4. Outfeed conveyor

The filled and capped bottles are transferred to a chain conveyor that conveys the bottles outside the machine. This conveyor is equipped with an automatic height adjusting system, that allows to adjust the bottle base according to the bottle height.

Technical data

• Frame made of AISI 304 stainless steel
• Tempered glass safety guards and sealing gaskets that hermetically seal the filling environment from the external one
• The motion of the machine carousels is driven by robust gears placed in the machine base
• The filling section is completely isolated from transmissions, that therefore do not come in contact with the liquid to be filled
• Filling valve fully made of AISI 316 and characterized by an easy maintenance
• High-precision flow meters installed next to the filling valves
• Dummy bottles with a manual insertion to ensure a complete cleaning and sanitation of the components in contact with the product (dummy bottles with an automatic insertion are available on request)
• Product pump that allows to keep the pressure constant during the filling operation
• Quick format changeover of the bottle guide equipment
• Parameters of each format directly controlled through HMI
• 7'' HMI touch screen (15'' available as an option)

Advantages

Maximum filling precision

The filling process is extremely precise, thanks to the use of the flow meter, an electronic device installed near each valve that detects the flow of the product that fills each bottle by counting the pulses and sends the filling valve the closure sign, once the value of the format in use is reached.

Compact solution and reduction in transportation costs

The fully welded frame gives the whole machine a solid and resistant structure. This allows a considerable space saving for the machine positioning in the plant. Furthermore, it is possible to transport the filler inside a 40' high cube container (available for most models).

Workability of a wide range of products

A wide range of products can be filled thanks to the valve terminal that is changed according to the type of product.

High level of hygiene

The machine base plate is inclined towards the drainage points. This allows the drainage of liquids that are on the machine base and a higher level of hygiene.

Protection of electronic components

The electric manifold and the drives of the filling valves are isolated from the filling environment through airlocks. This allows to protect electronic components from the contact with liquids and to perform COP washing operations on the whole filling carousel.

Separation between wet and dry manifolds

The entry of the filling product and the return of the washing product take place in the lower part of the machine through a ceramic manifold equipped with two gaskets (one for sealing and one for safety) and equipped with an inspection light. This leads to the neat separation between “wet” manifolds (product and CIP return) and “dry” manifolds (electric and pneumatic), in addition to a high durability.

Fully washable filling valve

Fully sanitized filling valve thanks to dummy bottles with manual or automatic (optional) positioning.

Efficient control of two filling speeds

The valve allows to control two filling speeds in order to fill homogeneously and efficiently, with no product leakage from the container. The duration of the filling cycles (slow or fast) can be controlled easily and intuitively through the recipes inside the man-machine interface (HMI Posyc®).

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