#Product Trends
Filling of small containers with integrated weighing device
Automatic systems for mixer feeding for decades
AZO has been supplying automatic systems for mixer feeding for decades. There is already
a plethora of solutions for this. The goal of developments in the field of filling and
packaging was to offer a flexible system for producers of speciality products in small to
medium batch sizes. Especially at a time when batches of products are becoming ever
smaller, fast and straightforward retooling from one receptacle to another is called for in
plants. The modular station exhibited at Powtech by AZO allows gravimetric filling of
products in small to medium-size batches. The focus here is on easy cleaning, a high
level of versatility and fast retooling to accommodate different small containers like tubs,
drums, boxes with inliners, bags and sacks.
The base station can be supplemented with a DA-type cyclone screener, which may be
used simultaneously for dosing, and/or with metal detectors for final inspection of the
product. Various modules for sealing sacks, for example bonding and sack sewing machines,
are also available. The filling heads for docking the most diverse receptacles without
generating dust range from inflatable rings to inflatable collars and foam ring seals.
AZO’s filling station enables our customers to switch over receptacles within two minutes.
The integrated weighing device can be calibrated, it has a weighing range of 50kg and
has a division of 10g increments. Actual dosing accuracy depends on the size of the dosing
unit and the flow properties of the bulk material in use. Typical values here are +/- 10
g to +/- 50 g. Capacity of the filling station: depending on the form and size of the receptacle
as well as on the number of operators, it is possible to fill and close the receptacle in
1-2 minutes. A standard throughput rate for the system is 1 receptacle per min. The roller
conveyor serves as a support surface and for horizontal transport of the receptacles to
the filling point, and from there onto the next module – on our exhibition stand, this is a
module for bonding sacks. It is also possible to implement partial automation of filling.
In introducing this system, we are responding to trends for ever smaller batches of products,
applications that can be calibrated, rapid changeover from one product to another
as well as from one type of receptacle to another.
If there is a requirement for contaminant-free solutions, the ingredients can also be metered
straight into a container on a mobile scales. The floor scales move fully automatically
to the specified dosing points. There is an additional option of adding micro quantities
with maximum accuracy by using AZODOS® negative weighing systems. Transfer of
raw materials takes place without contact and there is little generation of dust thanks to a
special gasket with aspiration in accordance with the raw material. As soon as the entire
batch is complete, a batch report is generated and the container is transferred to the discharge
point for further processing. The system works according to the accumulation
method. It is more economical to carry out consecutive weighing processes than to weigh
in parallel.
About AZO
The AZO Group is a German company, headquartered in Osterburken. AZO specialises
in the planning, manufacture and assembly of machines and facilities for automating
production processes in storage, discharge, screening, conveying, dosing and
weighing of bulk materials and powdered components well as for dispersing, mixing
and homogenizing of liquid and semisolid products.
With over 1,000 employees, the AZO Group has locations additional to its Osterburken
Headquarters in Neckarsulm, Hannover and Neuenburg am Rhein, as well as
being active worldwide with subsidiaries in Belgium, China, France, Russia, Thailand,
the USA and the United Kingdom.
www.azo.com