Components And Configuration of A Purified Water Filling Machine

1. Equipment Overview

 Bottles are conveyed from the air conveyor to the rinsing machine of the three-in-one filling machine via a bottle-transfer star wheel. The rinsing machine's rotary table is equipped with bottle clamps, which grip the bottle neck and rotate 180° along a guide rail, turning the bottle upside down. In the rinsing machine area, the inner wall of the bottles is rinsed with 2-4 PPM chlorinated water (or UV water). After rinsing and draining, the bottles are rotated 180° again along the guide rail while still held by the bottle clamps, so that the bottle mouth faces upwards. The cleaned bottles are then transferred from the rinsing machine to the filling machine via a bottle-transfer star wheel. Bottles entering the filling machine are lifted by a bottle lifting mechanism, and after contacting the filling valve, the filling process begins. After filling, the bottle lifting mechanism lowers away from the filling valve, and the bottles are transferred to the capping machine via a neck-clamping transfer wheel. A non-rotating blade on the capping machine holds the bottle neck, keeping the bottle upright and preventing rotation. The capping head rotates and revolves on the capping machine, and under the action of a cam, it performs the actions of gripping the cap, placing the cap, screwing on the cap, and releasing the cap, completing the entire capping process. The finished bottles are transferred from the capping machine to the bottle output conveyor chain via an output bottle-transfer wheel, and then conveyed out of the three-in-one machine by the conveyor chain. The entire machine is enclosed with sealed windows.

 

2. Main Features

Bottle Feeding Mechanism:

1) Direct connection between the air conveyor and the bottle-transfer star wheel for bottle feeding.

2) The bottle-transfer star wheel adopts an innovatively designed bottle neck clamping mechanism with bottle separation function, eliminating the need for a bottle feeding screw and conveyor      chain. No parts need to be replaced or adjusted when changing bottle shapes.

 

Rinsing Machine:

1) The rotary disc is entirely welded from stainless steel AISI304.

2) Large-sized flat toothed bearings ensure stable and reliable operation.

3)The machine uses our company's flip-type bottle clamps, which clamp the bottle neck, avoiding possible contamination of the bottle mouth threads caused by the rubber clamping blocks on         traditional bottle clamps. The bottle clamps are made of stainless steel AISI304, ensuring hygiene and durability. 4) The nozzles are spray nozzles, capable of rinsing all parts of the inner     wall of the bottle, ensuring excellent rinsing results and saving water used for bottle rinsing.

5) The bottle clamps and lifting mechanism sliding sleeves use German igus corrosion-resistant, maintenance-free bearings.

6) The bottle rinsing machine is powered by a transmission system within the frame via gears.

 

Transfer Wheel:

 1) It uses bottle neck clamps instead of traditional transfer wheels, eliminating the need to adjust the equipment height or replace any parts when changing bottle shapes. This adapts to a wider variety of bottle shapes and reduces bottle manufacturing costs; the bottle neck clamping disc is made of stainless steel AISI304.

 

Filling Machine:

 

1) The filling machine uses hot filling technology. While meeting the requirements of hot filling (liquid level controlled at approximately 15mm, with fine adjustment of the liquid level), it minimizes material backflow (for example, backflow of orange juice beverages ≤10%), thus providing hardware assurance for maintaining product flavor.

 

2) The bottle lifting mechanism and other parts use German igus corrosion-resistant, maintenance-free bearings, eliminating the need for lubrication and preventing contamination of bottles, the material inside the bottles, and the filling environment.

 

3) The feeding method involves the main liquid pipe connecting to the distributor through a dynamic and static seal, avoiding the drawbacks of difficult-to-clean liquid cylinders. The sealing rings in the dynamic and static seals are from Busak+Shamban of the USA, ensuring good reliability.

 

4) The filling valve is made of AISI316L and connected to the dynamic and static seal through a stainless steel sanitary pipe. The bottle lifting mechanism rises and falls under the action of a cam. After the bottle mouth contacts the filling valve, it opens to complete the filling process. The filling temperature is adjustable.

 

5) The filling system has a temperature self-control function. It can monitor and display the material temperature, and has automatic shutdown and alarm functions for low and high temperatures. The high and low temperature alarm temperatures can be set on-site according to actual needs.

 

6) The filling machine is equipped with CIP cleaning cups, allowing for effective CIP cleaning of both the inner and outer walls of the filling valve that come into contact with the material.

 

7) The rotating disc is entirely made of stainless steel AISI304. The filling machine is powered by a transmission system within the frame via gears. The support bearing is a large-diameter, toothed ball bearing, ensuring smooth and reliable operation.

 

8) The bearing area is equipped with multiple reliable waterproof structures, including sealing rings and waterproof rings, effectively preventing water from the tabletop from leaking into the bearing.

 

9) The filling machine's control panel is integrated with the equipment, while the remaining control cabinets are located outside the positive pressure room.

 

10) The filling machine's return tank must have a vacuum pump interface.

 

Capping Machine:

 The capping machine is the most precise single machine in the three-in-one machine, greatly impacting the reliability of equipment operation and the product defect rate. Our capping machine has the following features:

 

1) It incorporates the world's leading "ZALKIN" capping machine technology from France, improved through our experience in aseptic filling machine production, and designed with the assistance of expert professors from the Institute of Electromechanical Design and Automation Technology at the School of Mechanical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. For example: I) The capping lifting cam (the main component for stable capping operation) utilizes "ZALKIN" technology, and expert professors have performed kinematic and dynamic design on it, greatly improving the capping machine's operational stability and reliability. II) The capping head is the main component for reliable capping results. Expert professors have improved the structural design of the magnetic ring, resulting in more accurate capping torque and more reliable capping results, better reducing the capping defect rate.

 

2) It is equipped with a bottle detection switch for the capping machine, and a locking cylinder at the connection between the cap guide rail and the cap dispensing disc controls the discharge of bottle caps, ensuring that cap feeding stops when there are no bottles, reducing the user's cap consumption.

 

3) A set of photoelectric switches is installed on the cap guide rail. When there are no caps on the guide rail, the machine will automatically stop and alarm, effectively preventing the appearance of uncapped bottles.

 

4) A sterile water flushing nozzle is installed at the transition wheel between the filling machine and the capping machine to flush residual material from the bottle neck threads.

 

5) The anti-rotation knife uses imported materials, and its performance and lifespan are far superior to similar domestic products.

 

6) The capping torque can be adjusted according to user requirements, with an adjustment range of 10-36 kgf/cm. 

Bottle Discharge Starwheel:

 

1)  Uses a bottle-bottom conveying method; the bottle-bottom support plate follows a spiral descending curve, eliminating the need to adjust the machine or the height of the bottle discharge conveyor chain when changing bottle shapes.

 

Bottle Discharge Conveyor Chain:

1) The drive motor uses variable frequency speed control, maintaining synchronization with the three-in-one bottling machine, effectively preventing bottles from tipping over.

2) The bottle discharge conveyor chain is equipped with a photoelectric switch. In case of a bottle tipping over, it can control the three-in-one filling machine to slow down and stop.

 

Machine Frame:

 

1) The machine frame is welded from carbon steel, with surface anti-rust treatment and painting, and covered with stainless steel plates (AISI304).

 

2) The three-in-one machine's transmission system is located under the machine frame table, driven by a main motor using a gear transmission system.

 

The transmission gears use a combination of steel and nylon gears.

 

3) The machine has a centralized lubrication system, which can centrally lubricate the equipment's transmission components, effectively extending the equipment's service life.

 

Electrical Control System:

 

1) The electrical control cabinet is made of stainless steel AISI304. The PLC automatically controls the entire process of the three-in-one machine from bottle entry to bottle exit.

 

2)  A touch screen is used for operation. Production speed, shift output count, fault type, and fault location are all displayed on the screen. It can also automatically record fault occurrence time, fault type, and other information.