If you are in manufacturing or plan to expand into manufacturing, one of the items you will quickly hear mentioned is a filling machine. But what are these pieces of equipment and how do you know what is the right one for your company and what you plan to do?
Basics of the filling machine
The filling machine or filler is a basic of the manufacturing process that allows for efficiency and high quality products to be created. They are used for packaging food and drinks as well as a wide range of cosmetic, cleaning and other products. There are different machines and different filling nozzles for the different tasks – a different filling nozzle is needed to fill a carton as to fill a bottle, for example.
Fillers can be classified in two main ways – by how autonomous they are and what they fill. There are three main categories of automation – automatic, self-automatic and fully automatic. And there are four different filling types – liquid, gas, paste and powder fillers.
Liquid fillers
Liquid filling machines can be divided further by their working principle into ordinary, pressure and vacuum filling machines. An ordinary liquid filler uses gravity to work – the liquid is filled due to its weight and spills into the bottle. However, if you need to main viscosity or use gas bearing of the fluids, then different machines are needed. Milk bottles and grape wine are two examples needing specific requirements.
Vacuum fillers require an atmospheric pressure that is greater than that of the bottles. Liquids such as syrup and oil have a high viscosity, and this means they need this type of filling machine to get the substance efficiently into the container.
Pressure liquid fillers have a greater pressure than that of the atmosphere. They come in two main types:
- Equal air pressure filling is where the pressure of the liquid reservoir is equal to the pressure of the bottle and allows liquids to move due to their weight
- High pressure filling is where there is a difference in pressure between the liquid reservoir and the bottles
Other types of filling machine
Gas fillers are perhaps the most straightforward type of filling machine available. They use a booster pump to create pressure differences that complete the filling process. A gas filler can be similar to a gas compressor and can be used to fill carbon dioxide, coal gas and natural gas into containers.
Paste fillers are where a volumetric method is used to measure and also control the filling of the container. It is a very simple system that is also very easy to maintain and works well for highly viscous products. In these machines, there is a self-priming cylinder moved by a piston. This piston diameter and the stroke length decides the volume that the machine can fill. These are highly accurate fillers due to this system.
Getting the right filling machine
Sometimes, it can be obvious what the right type of machine is for the job you are considering. But if you are unsure or want to explore options, then working with a company like MSD Ltd who sell a variety of filling machines can help solve the problem.
By carrying out an assessment of what you plan to do, an expert company will be able to make recommendations about the filling machine and filling nozzles that you need along with any additional parts. You can even consider renting the machines if you are unsure if the venture will be a successful one or buy second hand equipment if this is more suitable for the project.
To find out more about filling machines and the options MSD can offer, visit our website or get in touch.
