Options Fine Tune Packaging Machinery

Check out any product on the Liquid Packaging Solutions' website and in addition to standard features, photos and videos, visitors will find an options tab. Some options are pretty much available across all machinery, such as automatic or semi-automatic variations of equipment. Other options are specific to the type of machine, such as diving heads on filling equipment. Still other options are available only on a specific piece of equipment, such as double gripper belts on a spindle capping machine. It is these options, however, that allow LPS to find a specific and tailored solution for each individual packager.

As an example, we will look at a packager looking to purchase an automatic gravity filler. Looking at the standard features tab on the LPS website, a packager can see that the machine will be built with a stainless steel frame, use power height and allow for tool-free adjustments, along with several other features. However, there are a few unique components to this packager's process, and the options will allow LPS to provide a better filling solution.

First, in this particular situation, the bottle samples that arrived were a rather unique shape, both tall and tapered. The bottles were therefore somewhat unstable when moving through the bottle filler. Bottle, or neck, grabbers are available as an option on filling machines. This option is used to secure bottles once in place under fill heads. The bottle grabbers slide around the neck of the container to ensure there will not be tipping, shaking or other movement while the fill takes place. They retract once the fill is complete to allow the bottles to continue down the power conveyor.

Second, the product being filled in this case did not interact well with stainless steel, the very material used to construct the machine. For this reason, the stainless steel material was replaced by an HDPE material that the product would not corrode, thus extending the useful life of the machine and components.

Finally, the company wanted a quick and easy way to clean the machine at the end of the production day. A Clean-In-Place system (CIP system) was discussed that would allow the packager to simply clean the product pathway through the PLC with little to no disassembly. CIP systems allow fill cycles to be run with water or cleaning product to clear the product pathways using a simple touchscreen interface found on automatic fillers.

In the end, the gravity filler would have worked for the packager without the options, but the machine would not have been as reliable or as efficient. Choosing the right options for equipment truly allows for the best packaging solution available. To learn more about the options for different equipment, simply click on the product that interests you and then choose the Options Tab found on the product page.