Piston Fillers - Filling Principle

Piston filling machines allow for an accurate volumetric fill thanks to the way in which the fill is completed.  Piston fillers also allow a packager the versatility to handle products both thick and thin.  Even products with particulates or chunks, such as tomato paste, salad dressing and some soaps, can be filled using this liquid filling machine.  Piston fillers can be manufactured as automatic filling machines or they can be built to run in a semi-automatic fashion, making the filling machines useful to facilities with almost any level of production.

 

Both the inside diameter of the cylinder of the piston filler and the length of the stroke of the piston will determine the volume of each fill completed by the machine.  Of course, the larger the cylinder, the more product that can be accommodated with each stroke of the piston.  The fill volume of the filling machine is increased or decreased by simply adjusting the length of the stroke of the piston.  This is normally accomplished by simply turning a handwheel to shorten or lengthen the stroke of the cylinder.  As the piston retract, it will pull product from the supply tank into the piston filler cylinder.  Once fully retracted (or retracted to the set point), the piston will return to the cylinder, forcing product into the supply line leading to the fill heads.  Since the volume pulled into the cylinder is the same with each fill cycle, the volume of product entering containers is consistently the same as well.  Proximity switches can be used on either end of the piston to assure that the filling machine is retracting and extending to the correct points.

 

Automatic piston filling machines are manufactured with a stainless steel frame that includes stainless steel leveling legs as well as casters for ease in rolling the filling machine up to almost any existing conveyor system.  The automatic piston fillers use an Allen Bradley Micrologix PLC that includes a simple to use, touchscreen operator interface.  The PLC allows for recipe recall to assist in quick set up and changeover of different containers.  Automatic piston fillers will also include a power height adjustment and container vision systems for consistent and reliable product filling.

 

Semi-automatic piston filling machines can be manufactured to resemble the automatic machinery, allowing for upgrades in the future.  In the alternative, semi-automatic fillers can be built as tabletop machinery.  All semi-automatic piston fillers will use tool-free adjustments and allow for quick and easy changeover and clean up. Whether you are looking to add efficiency to an already existing packaging line or looking to start packaging one or more new products, piston fillers offer the versatility that can make them the ideal filling machine for a great number of projects.