A simple filling valve based on aseptic concepts
The filling valve and product circuits for the Simonazzi Eurotronica FM-S have been designed with a specific aim: create a new system with improved hygienic features at an affordable cost, comparable to traditional mechanical systems. The result is a device that can fill water and fruit juices (including those with pulp), with no moving seals in contact with the product. Sealing is effected by a compression seal, whilst separation between the product and mechanical parts is effected with a membrane. The system is able to fill containers with no contact between bottle and filling valve and has two filling speeds for increased precision and less risk of foaming for juices during filling.
The filling valve design has no retention grids to avoid pollution and to allow pulpy product filling.
A self-tuning volumetric dosing system
The filling valve movements are worked directly by the magnetic flowmeter controlling the electro-pneumatic actuators driving the filling head. With this system a variation in tank level or filling valve mechanical behaviour is automatically compensated by the internal flowmeter algorithm, which adjusts the opening time to match the entered target volume to be filled. In this way there is no need to reset the flowmeter for variations occurring during normal machine life, thus cutting maintenance time, increasing volume precision, and reducing product loss.
High hygienic performances
The system is based on some key features from aseptic design:
- controlled compression static seals
- no seals closed groves
- no product retention points
- high-quality materials in contact with product
- automatic dummy bottles
Moreover, the machine is designed to be equipped with a reduced enclosure filling area system. This is achieved thanks to a special external guard designed around the bottles to minimize the working volume to be kept clean. With this configuration the atmosphere around bottles is always at a positive pressure to avoid external contamination and is treated by HEPA filters. The reduced chamber can be cleaned automatically by rotary spraying nozzles, fed from an external central unit with foam or chemical, and followed by rinsing.
