2024 Equipment Overview - Liquid Filling Machines
In 2024, liquid fillers will prepare products ranging from bottled water and other beverages to oils, cosmetics, honey, glue and more! The versatility of filling machines is evident in the range of products filled, but each type of filling machine offers unique benefits that may work better for certain liquids. Moving into 2024, Liquid Packaging Solutions once again expects the filling machine to be a high demand piece of packaging equipment. Below is an overview of the most popular liquid fillers and some of the benefits they provide.
GRAVITY FILLING MACHINE
Gravity filling machines provide a simple yet effective solution for filling free-flowing liquids into a range of different containers. Relying on the power of gravity, the machine uses an elevated tank and valves that open and shut to release liquid into containers. The timed fill, with the ability to set the time for each individual fill head, allows for an accurate volumetric fill with each cycle. Given that only gravity is used to move the liquid, running higher viscosity products on a gravity filler would sacrifice the overall efficiency of the machine with a slower flow, leaving the gravity filler to run thinner, lower viscosity products.
PUMP FILLING MACHINE
Pump filling machines may also be based on a timed fill, but the use of the pumps allows for higher viscosity liquids to run efficiently through the machine. Pump fillers, like gravity filling machines, provide a highly accurate volumetric fill by dedicating one pump to each fill head on the machine. In addition to a time based fill, pump fillers can also be manufactured to provide a pulse based fill, where each pulse would be some movement of the pump. Different pumps may be used for different products, but an example of pulse based filling would include a turn of a gear on a machine using gear pumps. Adding the extra push of a pump to the product pathway on this filler allows thicker products to fill with greater speed than would be possible using only gravity.
PISTON FILLING MACHINE
Piston filling machines may be thought of as a variant of the pump filler. Piston fillers allow a cylinder to be filled with product before a piston pushes back into the cylinder to release product to the waiting container or containers. As the volume of the cylinder never changes, the piston filler also supplies packagers with an accurate fill by volume. This machine differs slightly from the pump fillers described above in that the open cylinder allows for larger particulates than could be handled by the other filler versions described above. While piston fillers can be used for almost any viscosity, they are ideal for products like fruit jams or vegetable based sauces. Again, the piston provides the extra push that allows for higher viscosity products, including gels and pastes, to be filled efficiently.
OVERFLOW FILLING MACHINE
Standing apart from the volumetric filling machines described above, the overflow liquid filler provides a fill based on reaching a specific level in each and every bottle, without regard to the internal volume of each bottle. While this means volumes may be slightly off, most bottles are manufactured so closely identical that the actual volumes will usually be very similar. Using unique fill nozzles that create a seal on the bottle opening, overflow fillers release product into a bottle through a port on the nozzle and allow excess liquid to return to the holding tank via a second, or overflow, port. The level fill on each bottle allows for a sleek, eye-pleasing shelf appearance for products packaged in clear containers. Though a pump will be used on an overflow filler, these machines are best suited for low to medium viscosity products as thicker products can cause efficiency issues with the overflow of product, making fill times longer than what a packager might obtain with other bottle fillers.
While these four types of fillers will likely make up the majority of filling machines manufactured by LPS in 2024, other machine types, such as Net Weight Fillers, and custom filling solutions are also available for unique projects. For help identifying the best filler type for your own project, call LPS any time for a free, no-obligation consultation with a Filling Specialist.