Many things that we encounter in our daily lives like cold-drinks, oils, juices, water, etc. are packed with the help of Liquid Filling Machines. Liquid Filling machines play an important role in the packaging process. Traditional methods of filling bottles were really time consuming and expensive. They included placing the bottle into the conveyor and filling only one bottle at a time. With the advent of Automatic Liquid Filling Machines, the process of filling has become quite simpler and efficient. In the Automatic Filling Machines, the filing process is fully controlled by PLCs (programmable logic controllers).
In the Automatic Filling Machines, the filling and capping is done in a synchronized manner. With the help of a user-defined volume selection menu, the users can input the desired volume that is to be filled in the bottles. This system is more user-friendly, flexible and time saving. PLCs are used in the filling and capping operations because they are cost effective, flexible, space efficient and simple. For controlling the entire system, PLCs are programmed while for monitoring the process, SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition) is generally used.
Detection of bottles using sensors- Bottles are kept in the holders fixed to the conveyors. IR sensors detect the presence of the bottles in their respective holder and start the filling and capping process. The whole filling and capping operation is dependent upon the output of the IR sensors given to the PLCs.
Filling Operation- After the bottles are detected, the motor in the conveyor switches on. The bottles moving in forward direction reach their desired places for filling and after that, the conveyor stops. Process tanks have sensors which switch on the pumps to fill the bottles while they reach their required position.
User-Defined Volume- Volume selection menu allows feeding the desired volume into the PLC and depending upon it, the filling of the liquid takes place. Filling operations can be timed too, thus switching off the pump when the time is out. After the filling, conveyors start moving.
After filling, the bottles are moved to the capping arrangement. IR sensors stop the bottles after they reach their desired position. After the bottles reach to their position, the conveyor stops. Capping is done with the actuator arrangement. Three actuators moving in forward and reverse directions & cap the bottles.
