1) Conveyor Systems

Empty bottles are loaded onto the in feed conveyor manually and are carries into the machine for onward handling. While traveling on the conveyor, the bottles are aligned on either side by guide rods to ensure controlled movement with respect to related moving components. The empty bottles must be loaded continuously at the desired rate to prevent breakage of bottles at the transfer point into the rinsing rotor. The derlin slats ride on wear strips, as shown to achieve noiseless running and prevent wear and tear. The wear strips are held firmly on the conveyer body by countersunk screws. The conveyers, both in feed and out feed, are driven by ¼ HP, 3 phase gear motors having an output speed of 33 rpm.

2) Empty Bottle Handling (Rinsing Rotor)

Empty bottles coming into the machine on the in feed conveyer are transferred into the rinsing rotor by the bottle pusher. The bottle pusher receives the empty bottle during its return stroke and delivers the bottle into the bottle gripper at the end of the forward stroke. The bottle once caught by the gripper is inverted during rotor indexing for three stations rinsing. When positioned at the rinsing station, the bottle compresses a metallic strip, which is detected by the proximity switch for the rinsing operation. In case there is no bottle in the gripper, then rinsing does not take place, thus achieving NO BOTTLE – NO RINSE. Rinsing is done at three stations prior to automatic transfer to the filling rotor for the filling operation. The rinse time at each station can be individually regulated with timer control.

3) Filling Rotor

Filling is carried out at four stations through four solenoid valves. The bottle while traveling on the filling rotor is held at the neck and the body by adapters provided for the purpose confirming to the bottle dimensions. NO BOTTLE – NO FILL is achieved by metallic strips which come into range of proximity switches when compressed by the bottle neck. The quantity of water to be filled at each station can be adjusted by setting the reading at the respective filling timer. The readings set should give a cumulative fill of 1000 ml at the fourth filling station.

4) Cap Pick Up

After completion of filling operation, the bottle automatically picks up a cap from the chute. Caps slide down the chute after emerging from the vibrator and position themselves properly with respect to the cap. Caps are dumped into the vibrator bowl for steady feeding of the chute please note that wet caps should never be emptied into the bowl since this could affect the output of the caps due to presence of water. The caps should be dry and undistorted.

5) Capping

After the bottle picks up a cap from the chute it comes to rest under the capping head. In case of LDPE plug type caps, the capping head merely descends and punches the cap onto the neck of the bottle to complete the capping. In case of HDPE roll on caps, the capping head has to turn the cap on the thread profile of the bottle neck to complete the capping operation. The capping shaft gets its rotary motion form a ¼ HP gear motor mounted on the underside of the base plate. The linear motion of the shaft comes from the cam mounted on the main drive shaft. Capping pressure can be varied by shifting the vertical position of the pulley on the long capping shaft. If the shaft is moved down and tightened then the capping pressure increases whole if it is raised and tightened then the capping pressure decreases.

6) Shrink Sleeving

The cap sleeves and body labels are inserted manually on the bottles as it travels on the discharge conveyor. The sleeves are positioned properly before entering the shrink tunnel and the bottles after passing through the tunnel, are unloaded manually at the far end of the conveyor. There are three heaters inside the tunnel having a collective electrical load of 3 KW. The heat is uniformly distributed inside the tunnel by a ¼ HP air blower. Temperature inside the tunnel is sensed by a thermocouple mounted in the cavity so that the temperature controller can regulate the intensity of heat.

7) Electrical Control Panel

All the control devices are fitted inside the control panel, which is mounted on the machine itself. The filling timers, rinsing timers and the control switches are fitted such that they offer access to the operator. All the motors have thermal relays which protect them against voltage surges and excessive current. The rinse timings along with the fill timings can be individually controlled to obtain an optimum fill of 1000 ml or otherwise.

About the control panel

UV Lamps – five nos. UV lamps are provided on the machine, four in the filling zone and one on the cap chute. There are five nos. ballasts inside the control panel for these UV lamps.