Makwell is a China-based filling machine manufacturer and packaging equipment with over 15 years of professional experience in providing filling solutions. Our filling machines are used in various industries, including food and beverages, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, chemicals, and pesticides while retaining high levels of precision and flexibility. They function by rapidly measuring and extracting exact quantities of a product from bulk and correctly filling to a predetermined level.
Discover our different types of filling machines to find one that meets your production filling needs!
What is a filling machine?
A filling machine or filler is a piece of equipment for filling food, beverages, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, medicines, chemicals, pesticides, etc., into many different commercial containers. Depending on the product, it is used to fill either bottles or pouches.
Depending on the product material, filling machines can be classified as liquid filling machines, paste filling machines, powder filling machines, and granular filling machines. Based on the level of automation, it can be divided into semi-automatic filling machines and fully automatic filling production lines.
Advantages of Filling Machines
For packaging companies, investing in automatic filling machines can bring many advantages. Here are the five most common advantages of incorporating automatic filling machines into packaging systems.
1. Increase Production Speed
Automatic filling machines provide more production capacity than hand-filling. Automatic bottle fillers can fill many containers at once, from thin liquids to high viscosity, like jelly or paste. Inline systems can reach speeds of up to 120 bottles per minute and can have up to sixteen fill heads. This means that thousands of bottles can be filled daily.
2. Reliable and Consistent
When containers are filled by hand, the amount of product in each bottle can differ. Some measuring tools may help to reduce these differences, but using them will slow down the process. Not just the speed, automatic filling machines can fill to the same level, volume, weight, or other measurements.
3. Flexible/Adaptable
Not every automatic filling machine is made for just one container or even just one product. Automatic bottle fillers can be set up to work with different types and sizes of containers. Also, many machines can work with more than one product type, and some can fill both thin and thick liquids. The versatility of the packaging equipment may be the best advantage for businesses that package different products in different containers.
4. Easy to Use Controls
At first, automatic liquid fillers may look like they take a long time to set up. However, this is not the case at all. Once they are working, filling machines will only need minor changes made by hand to go from one bottle to the next. But important settings like fill times, indexing times, pump speeds, and more are set on a touchscreen interface in the middle of the machine. Once settings are made for a bottle and product combination, which is usually done at the LPS site before delivery, operators only need to call up a “recipe” from the PLC to remember all times.
5. Upgradeable
Filling machines can keep up with the growth of a packager’s business. Four, six, or eight fill heads can be the starting point for an automatic machine. As production and demand increase, more fill heads add to the machine. Most machines can fit up to sixteen fill heads on the nozzle bar. This means that each cycle can fill up to sixteen containers. Different machines may have other limits, and the top speed will depend on the size and shape of the bottle and the product itself.
Install a Complete System of Filling Machines
Our filling machines can fill in different ways, such as by flow, volume, or weight. In addition to filling equipment, we also offer other types of equipment that can be added to your packaging system to make it complete, reduce the number of breakdowns, and make your business more productive. Our filling solutions are available to meet the specific needs of your application.
Filling machines are made to fit the products, filling volume, capacity, and production targets. Bottle unscramblers, filling machines, capping machines, labeling machines, ink coding machines, and packing equipment are all available. One can be added to the system, or all can be combined to form a full packaging system line.
After filling, the capping device screw on custom caps of different sizes and shapes. The labeling machine attaches labels on containers with custom images and text. A system of conveyors can move products through the packaging system quickly and efficiently, from filling to sealing. The speed and configuration of the conveyors are adjustable. With all this equipment set up in your facility, you can speed up and improve the accuracy of the packaging process.
The Common Problems in Filling Machine Process
- Foaming and dripping. Improper seals will most likely cause foaming or leaking issues with the filling machine.
- Filling is inconsistent. Filling machines work in different ways and have different kinds of nozzles. Depending on the type of filler used on a packing line, the inconsistent filling may result from various sources.
- Filling error. Filling volume, filling speed, and upper and lower valve switching speed are the key factors that affect filling errors. The thickness of the materials affects how quickly the upper and lower valves flip positions. The valves switch more slowly when the viscosity is higher.
- Inaccurate timing and fill levels. Incorrect timing and filling levels may cause either wasteful overflow or underuse of available products.
- Power problems. Poor power has nothing to do with the equipment but the facility itself. Power surges may damage the manufacturing line, creating a full failure that can result in a complete loss of output or, if prolonged, product spoiling.
- Having defective or broken parts damages filling processes and is more costly.
The Solutions
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What to do when there is foaming and dripping in the filling process?
Poor seals will likely cause foaming or leaking issues with your liquid filling machine. Dripping and foaming may waste liquids and result in costly product loss over time. Still, this problem is avoidable by tightening seals and ensuring that valves do not leak during or after the filling process. If the seal is damaged, the entire filling machine may need to be replaced.
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How to handle inconsistent filling?
In general, incorrect or inconsistent filling is often either a wrong filling machine setup or worn parts that need replacements.
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Why does the filling machine have a precision error during filling?
Filling error determines mainly by filling volume, filling speed, and upper and lower valve switch speed. How quickly the upper and lower valves switch places depends on how thick the product is. The valves switch more slowly when the viscosity is higher. The pressure of the valve spring set by the filling machine depends on the trial filling measurement and the operator’s experience. The spring pressure controls mainly by how fast the concentration valve opens and closes. When the spring pressure goes up, the valve switches more quickly.
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How to solve inaccurate fill levels and timing?
If the filling levels are incorrect, the containers may overflow and waste product, or they may not be filled enough or have too much product. A bad seal is a common reason why filling levels are not accurate. Check the seals for wear and tear. If tightening them doesn’t work, you may need to replace them. Spacers and air hoses with low or high air pressure can also cause problems with the water level in the tank. Checking hose barbs and other parts that might be loose or let air into product paths as part of regular maintenance can help you avoid this. Some machines have a touchscreen that lets you change the amount of filling based on the product. Timing is another problem that is usually fixed by changing operational settings instead of adjusting hardware. The viscosity of the materials may also influence volumetric fill settings.
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How to avoid power problems?
Take specific steps to make sure that power spikes don’t happen and that there is enough power to flow evenly to all of your machines. Ensure your facility has a backup generator and enough electricity to power any new equipment you add to your filling line. This assures that your equipment works at its best and keeps problems that could be expensive from happening.
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How important is it to do preventive maintenance checks regularly?
One of the effective ways to prevent common mechanical problems is to regularly check machines for malfunctioning or broken-down parts. Make a maintenance plan that works for you so that these problems don’t affect your filling operations and cause you to lose money. If you don’t know which parts of your filling assembly need attention or need help figuring out what’s wrong, you can ask an expert in the field to help you keep an eye on the condition of your equipment.