Indexing systems on liquid fillers "cycle" containers in and out of the fill area at pre-set or pre-determined times.  Each cycle consists of containers moving under the fill heads, being filled and then being released to the next packaging phase.  Liquid Packaging Solutions offers several different types of container indexing for liquid packaging fillers.  The type of indexing used on your filling machine will depend on a number of factors, including container type, container size and speed of operation.

The most common indexing system on Liquid Fillers from LPS is pin, or gate, indexing.  This system of indexing uses an entry gate and exit gate that will open and close to file containers in and release containers once filled.  Easy adjustment of the gates allows for easy filling of multiple sized containers.

A timing screw can also be used on a liquid filler to move containers through the filling process.  A timing screw is just what it sounds like, a helical screw that turns to advance containers.  Timing screws can also control the speed at which containers flow, halt containers for filling and divide containers as they move through a packaging system.  Different screws may be necessary for your filling machine indexing to handle different sizes and shapes of containers.

Starwheel indexing is a third alternative for your liquid filler.  The starwheel (simply a wheel, with grooves sized into it to "catch" the containers) will include a stop pin that will allow the correct number of containers to cycle into the fill area.  Once the fill is complete, the starwheel simply rotates to release containers from the liquid filler to the next packaging phase.  Starwheel indexing is ideal for higher speed production as the stop pin removes the necessity of sychronizing conveyor belt speeds, thus allowing for higher belt speed. Gate indexing, discussed above, necessarily creates a gap between sets of containers.  An entry gate must hold a set of empty bottles from the fill area until those bottles that were just filled begin to leave the fill area, creating a gap between the two sets of bottles and giving the pins time to engage or react.  Starwheel indexing also increases speed by removing this gap created by gate, or pin, indexing.  While starwheel indexing can handle virtually any container size, different starwheels will be necessary for different sizes and shapes of bottles.  However, changeover of starwheels is quick and simple.

Of course, bottles can always be manually indexed in and out of the fill area, and less common indexing systems, such as a shuttle indexing system (which may take one row of product and release it to multiple locations) are available for liquid packaging machines. 

LPS will consult with each and every customer to manufacture a filling machine with the perfect indexing system for that customer's product and production needs!