Filler/Capper Cleans Easily, Changes Quickly

Especially suitable for packagers of pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, the MB120 Monoblock filler/capper from ESS Technologies offers a unique combination of easy-to-clean balcony design and advanced controls that permit quick size change and automatic, on-the-fly, fill-volume adjustments.

The seven-axis system uses four servo motors from B&R USA and three AC inverter motors to meter in containers, fill them, and screw on caps. Diving nozzles, filling pumps, timing screw, and cap indexing wheel are all servo-driven. Conveyors and cap-torquing are driven by the AC inverter motors.

系统没有PLC。运动、逻辑和人机界面all governed by a single B&R controller. A CANbus network and software called B&R Automation Studio integrate all these automation tasks. The control system was developed by B&R USA’s Mid-Atlantic representative and distributor, Integrated Motion Inc., according to the requirements of ESS.

ESS总裁凯文·布朗（Kevin Browne）说：“该软件是选择B＆R Controls包的关键因素。”他补充说，对于其他控件供应商，可能有必要将单独的软件程序用于HMI，逻辑和运动。“对于用户来说，只有一个软件程序要容易得多。”

阳台设计将所有驱动器和控件组件都放在机器后面的机柜中。布朗说：“如果有的话，它不会落入任何驱动器组件。”“它落在捕获锅中，大大简化了清洁和维护。在制药行业中，这至关重要。”

玻璃或塑料瓶可以在新机器上填充，其6英尺宽5英尺长，可节省宝贵的地板空间。容器尺寸的范围可能从2 mL到16盎司，速度可以高达120/min。布朗说，该系统的多个运动轴通过其一个控制器紧密整合，非常同步。

他说：“当您提高机器的速度时，一切都会成比例地出现 - 调查器，体积填充泵，封盖头，所有东西。关于此控件软件包的另一个好处是，我们用于伺服电动机的同一B＆R驱动器也用于交流逆变器电动机。不必库存分开驱动器真是太好了。”

The responsiveness and flexibility available in a servo-driven fill head and servo-driven filling pumps also make it possible to perform “profile filling,” Browne explains. “If the bottle has a larger bottom than the top, which is very common in cosmetics containers, we can bring the diving nozzles up slowly at first and dispense liquid fast. Then, as nozzles near the narrower top of the container, we can accelerate the upward movement of the nozzles and slow down the filling pumps.”

Browne值是自动填充体积调整的附加控件功能。例如，一个网络的下游检查器可以平均每50瓶每50瓶，并将该数据发送到B＆R控制器，然后自动计算填充量设定点中所需的任何调整。