FLEX Pack Service & Supplies has expanded its range of liquid filling systems for the food and beverage packaging industry with the introduction of the Model 800 automatic bag filler.
Designed for filling flexible bags such as those used in wine casks, the filler is suitable for filling 2-20 litre bags with a wide range of liquids including wine, water, milk, juices, syrups, eggs, oils, purees and chemicals.
Flex Pack has produced machines for this purpose since 1976 and claims its new model now offers faster and more accurate filling through use of the most up-to-date automation technology available.
The Model 800 is capable of filling up to 18x2L bags a minute and can maintain this rate over an extended period without accelerated wear or undue downtime. The product supply flow rate is 45-300L/min with a fill accuarcy of ±0.25% under optimum product supply conditions.
PLC-based controls are used to monitor and automatically adjust fill volumes when required. As well as providing operators with information at a glance, a touch screen incorporated into the unit enables operators to manually override volume and timer settings if necessary.
After drawing empty bags from a carton via a shuttle assembly, sensors on the shuttle cylinder sense the position of the bag and, once positioned below the filling head, signal gripper arms to hold the bag in place.
Filling then begins and once finished, the bag is discharged along the conveyor and another is brought into position.
All components that come in contact with the product are made from 316 grade stainless steel or other food grade approved materials.
At the touch of a button the clean-in-place (CIP) mode on the machine will clean all product-contact components within the filling system.
It will also monitor cleaning liquid temperature - halting and restarting the CIP process timer as required.
Operator safety is ensured by safety guarding which is linked to the PLC. The PLC will interrupt operation of the machine when light guard barriers are breached by any object.
Optional extras include a modem communications package which enables Flex Pack technicians to connect into the filler’s controls and monitor its operation from their premises in Victoria.
According to the manufacturer, this capacity for off-site monitoring will reduce maintenance costs through early fault-finding and prevention.
The filler is manufactured in Victoria and can be set to customers' individual needs for different liquids and sizes.
Also included in Flex Pack's product range are liquid fillers for intermediate bulk containers and a range of specialised filling machines for food and beverage applications throughout Australasia.