Custom Made Box Filler
Filling a corrugated box with a very thick product was dangerous until we built this special filling machine. It includes a heat-jacketed infeed, ball valve and lance. A protective steel booth is built around the filler because the hot and sticky liquid can splatter.
Model: CMF-500
Capacity: 30 boxes per hour, 40 lbs each
Container: Corrugated box, 23” x 11” x 10” with a special poly liner inside
Material: Carbon steel construction, all wetted parts use 316 stainless steel
Overview
This customer, a leader in liquid sealants, wanted to fill corrugated boxes with a very thick liquid. The viscosity of the liquid was equivalent of glue and each box had a special poly liner inside. We designed a special semi-automatic, liquid filling machine with electric, heat-jacketed piping infeed, a three-inch ball valve and lance, and a protective steel booth built around it because the hot and sticky liquid would often splatter on the operator. At the filling station the operator could watch the filling cycle and discharge the load to a tape sealing machine.
Description of Operation
Empty corrugated boxes with a poly liner accumulate on a powered roller conveyor before the filling machine. The open boxes are indexed into the filler automatically, after a filled box is discharged by the operator. Each box stops when it reaches a photo eye inside the filling machine booth. The operator will press the start button to begin the fill cycle. The infeed manifold, ball valve and filling lance are all heat jacketed to keep the product hot and flowing. A scale under the fill station conveyor will tare to zero weight then the infeed valve opens allowing the heated liquid to flow into the box. As the scale reads the weight, it signaled the fill cycle to stop at the exact amount of net weight poured into the box. The lance rises to its home position then a pneumatic “air knife” activates to blow any residue off the end of the lance. The operator will discharge the box where it conveys past a light tree, signaling the next empty box to enter the filling booth.
Technical Specifications
This is a heat-jacketed, top-fill, semi-automatic, liquid filling machine with a safety enclosure to prevent the operator from the danger of hot liquid splash-back, with the following components:
- All wetted parts are made from 316 stainless steel
- 3” dia. ball valve and lance, electric heat-jacketed
- Air cylinder to raise and lower the lance assembly
- A 500 lb Rice Lake scale base with load cells
- Scale accuracy, plus or minus 0.10 lbs on 3 a sigma curve
- NTEP approved scale and weight meter
- PLC controller, programmed and cycled tested
- Electronic display, operator friendly keypad for data entry
- Communications port for interface with Drum Filler in the Cloud
- Automatic zero tare for each box before fill cycle begins
- Powered roller conveyors before, inside and after the filling station
- Photo eyes to recognize each box arrival
- Safety interlock; no box, no start of the fill cycle
- Light tree before and after the fill station
- Lance crash protection, auto abort at 10 lbs force
- Special steel splash booth with plastic windows at top and front
Fillers and conveyors are made with structural steel stanchions, frames and supports welded together, making each section a one-piece superstructure, the most rugged standard in the industry.
Additional information
| Portability | Stationary – Floor mounted |
|---|---|
| Fume Booth | Yes |
| Conveyor System For Empty And Full Containers | Standard |
| Foaming Product | Yes |
| Automation Type | Semi-Automatic – Operator positions lance to container or container to lance |
| Product Temperature | >250 |
| Container Type (Standard) | Drum-Plastic, Drum-Steel, Pails |
| Fill Heads (Standard) | 1 Fill Head |
| Fill Heads (Optional) | 2 Fill Head, 3 Fill Head, 4 Fill Head |
| Classification for Explosive / Flammable Environments (Standard) | Unclassified |
| Classification for Explosive / Flammable Environments (Optional) | Class I – Div I, Class I – Div II |
| Site Conditions (Standard) | Industrial Standard |
| Site Conditions (Optional) | Corrosive Environment, Food Grade, Outdoor, Requires Washdown |
| Frame Construction / Coating (Standard) | Carbon Steel Enamel |
| Frame Construction / Coating (Optional) | Carbon Steel Epoxy, Stainless 304, Stainless 316 |
| Product - Wetted Parts (Standard) | Standard 316 |
| Product - Wetted Parts (Optional) | Corrosive / Caustic, Food Grade |
| Product Viscosity Handling (Standard) | 0-2,500 CPS (Water to Maple Syrup), 10,000 CPS (Honey), 100,000 CPS (Toothpaste), 50,000 CPS (Ketchup) |
| Product Viscosity Handling (Optional) | 250,000 CPS (Peanut Butter) |
