In the bottle filling machine design, automation lowers production time and improves manufacturing industries’ system performance and process control. Small companies take advantage of the advanced bottle filling machine design to produce liquid products like detergents, liquid soaps, fruit juices, milk products, etc.
Manual methods of filling lead to low production capacity and losses from spills. Today, automatic bottling systems widely apply at various levels of production. As less production time lowers manufacturing expenses. For the design overview, we will cover low-cost, flexible automatic bottle-filling machines that can fill bottles of different sizes.
The bottle filling machine design is based on the guidelines for creating mechatronic systems. Simulation and models help choose the machine’s best material, transfer system, and filling mechanisms. Filling bottles at the same time by a conveyor system, a system, and a filling unit. Control algorithms for using Arduino Due microcontroller system. After designing, creating the physical model comes next.
Introduction
Bottle filling machines have come a long way in terms of size, speed, performance, quality, and complexity in past years. One of the most essential tasks a filling machine must do is fill the containers with the right amount of product as quickly as possible. Bottle filling machines can use their own bottle filling machine design, system, and technologies, but most can be put into three main groups: filling by level sensing, volumetric flow meters, and weight.
The filling system uses a certain amount of time to control how much liquid goes into each container. Most filling machines fill bottles at a set rate. Other devices, however, change their production rates to meet high demand. Such designs make it hard to control the speed of the belt, so researchers are working on ways to make conveyor assemblies that can go at different rates.
Then again, slowing down the speed of the belt saves energy and extends the life of belt conveyor parts like the belt and idler rolls. Other things that must be considered when designing bottling machines are filling rates, product changeover situations, and filling accuracy. The bottle filling machine design is a mix of different types of engineering, including mechanical, electrical, and software engineering.
We will learn the design of flexible bottle filling machines using rules for mechatronic systems (ideal for small to medium enterprises).
Bottle Filling Machine Design
Methodology
The bottle filling machine design must possess collaboration and integration to meet requirements such as better performance, speed, accuracy, efficiency, and lower prices. The mechatronic system design process deals with requirements using an interdisciplinary design procedure that includes evaluating, integrating, and optimizing the system. And all its subsystems and components as a whole. Parallel and collaborative work by all design disciplines throughout the design and development process to make the overall best design. Design guidelines for mechatronic systems reflect the bottle filler’s design. Which consists of mechanical parts, electric devices, electronics components, sensors, hardware, and software-programmed instructions.
- Macro V-model
- Micro problem-solving cycle
- Maturity-based macrocycles
- Process modules that are user-specific for repeated operations.
System Design
Problem summary for bottle filling machine design: Processing of liquids SMEs are not maximizing revenues owing to losses from inadequate filling procedures and low production outputs. While the purchase and maintenance of advanced filling machinery can be too expensive. With these issues, the design challenge was then defined and articulated. These specifications will use for the evaluation of the final version.
Requirements Outline
- Be able to fill bottles of different sizes (0.5L and 1L) and heights (150mm and 300mm) at a rate of 0.083l/s, meaning filling 1L for 12s.
- Be able to fill 600 0.5L bottles and 300 1L bottles each hour.
- The system should stop if the bottle falls over while transporting or filling.
- To prevent dynamic instability bottle detection, the conveyor should travel at 0.10 m/s, and the filling mechanism must operate between 2s-3s.
- As the size of the bottle changes, the filling mechanism has to expand to fit smaller bottles, then reduce to accommodate larger bottles.
- The system will be based on a microcontroller.
- It must run on 12V or 24V DC power.
- Capable of identifying how many bottles are full.
- Weigh between 20 and 120Kg. And up to 2000kg for larger filling machines.
- The bottle filling machine design must be portable and don’t take up much space.
- Small to medium businesses are the target market. (Customized equipment for large manufacturing companies)
- For Newtonian fluids to work only.
- The technology features position sensors that determine the bottle’s mouth depending on their heights.
- Be able to work with bottles made of PEP, metal, and glass.
- Be able to operate for 12 hours without stopping.
- It should be inexpensive to produce.
The product’s concept of the cross-domain solution is given below;
The bottle liquid filling machine design has a conveyor, a sensing unit, a filling unit, a delivery unit, and a control unit. Then, in each domain, the right solution elements are given to these sub-functions, keeping in mind the context of the whole system. Then, design work was done in the mechanical, electrical, and software areas, along with the proper modeling and simulation work.
Mechanical Domain
Mechanical components are created using CAD software along with suitable materials. So that it would be easy to fix, the subsystems are modular way. Dynamic tests using finite element analysis considered the structure’s stability, weight, and strength.
The software runs simulations to evaluate the various conveyor and filling system setups. A conveyor system powered by a motor and a filling mechanism supplies liquid to bottles through a distributor.
Electrical Domain
Cross-domain communication helped select the proper electrical components. Aside from choosing the suitable sensors and actuators, also decide on the devices that would link between the controller’s sensors and actuators. For instance, the speed necessary to drive the application following its specifications, the reflected acceleration torque, friction torque, breakaway torque, gravity torque, a continuous torque, and the required horsepower for the application all had to be determined. Then, using a motor’s 40 rpm, 0.3 horsepower, and 0.2 NM starting characteristic torque curves. And a module for the motor driver.
The following criteria do the estimations for choosing a pump:
- Total Dynamic Head (TDH)
- GMP flow requirement
- Consult Pump Curves
- Wire size
A performance curve is used to choose a pump based on the TDH and the required or desired flow. The electrical parts are the following;
- Solenoid Electro-pneumatic Valve
- Water 12v Plastic Solenoid Valve
- Submersible Pump 12vdc
- Double Acting Cylinder
- Channel Relay Module
- Dual H Bridge Module
- R Sensor Module
- Arduino Due
- Gear Motor
Software Domain
With the help of the Integrated Design Environment (IDE), a control algorithm for the system is possible. The algorithm is ideal for making it work with electrical components. The PID algorithm places the bottles correctly in the filling section.
Conclusion
The main goal of the bottle filling machine design is to create filling equipment that can fill bottles of different sizes. The filling machine is of high-quality materials, which gives it more value and makes it easier for SMEs to go into business and grow.
The modular bottle filling machine design makes it easy to keep up and fix. The machine is also portable and takes up a small amount of space. It can be used in small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) without needing large industrial buildings.
Moreover, each bottle filling machine design needs updates throughout the product life cycle. This is to provide more resilience as volume variations continue to expand. A capping system is also within the project’s specifications. Moving sensor units may also be available to expand the range of filling capacities without reconfiguring. Furthermore, we consider how a quality inspection feedback loop can be established with a minimal impact on the overall cost.
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