Bulk Bag and Box Automated Filling

Ingredients Handled
C5 Hydrocarbon Resins

Control and Metering's Customer
The customer is a large producer of additives for the food, chemical, adhesive, pulp and paper industries.

Customer's Reason For Using Bulk Bags
The customer was looking for a solution that would provide flexibility in filling either boxes or FIBC's due to their diverse customer requirements.

Control and Metering Application Solution
Control and Metering's filling system allows the producer to fill multiple containers at a high continuous output, use labor efficiently, and produce bulk bags which transport well.

A filling station was installed with an automated pallet dispenser and conveyor system for continuous feed of empty pallets. The pallet moves to a staging location where an operator can place the corrugated box for the box filling process. The integral conveyor feeds in the empty box/pallet, where either the box cover is placed over the box for filling, or the operator rigs the empty FIBC.

Once the empty container is in place, the operator tares the weight that initiates the filling process. The filled container is fed out of the filling machine to a powered out feed conveyor and then onto a gravity collection conveyor system. This system allows for staging of 4 full bags. Operator controls are mounted at both the filling machine and box staging locations for easy operator access.

A belt conveyor delivers the resin pastilles to the fill head of the filling machine. The filling machine controller monitors the weight signal from four load cells mounted under the filling machine frame and sends a signal to slow down the conveyor for trickle fill, closes a valve and stops the conveyor at the target weight. With filled FIBC's, the operator would activate the bag release which lowers the bag onto the staged pallet, tie off the bag inlet, then initiate the out feed by pushing a button on the control panel.

Application Challenges and Their Solution
The main challenge for this application was the requirement for flexibility to switch between filling two different size bulk bags and a corrugated box on the same filling machine with little down time. They also wanted to have a single operator responsible for the whole process. The machine had to allow for the in feed of empty pallets, as well as staging of filled containers without requiring the operator to remove the filled package before the next one could be filled. This required careful software programming to ensure that each process was stepped through properly allowing for the correct "in-feed" of the empty pallets.

Control and Metering Solutions
Control and Metering's Model AV filler with its integral motorized conveyor provided the flexibility to incorporate a pallet dispenser, in feed and out feed conveyors to automate the pallet/package handling process. Control and Metering offers a unique means for setting up the filling machine to accommodate various sized packages that takes very little time to change. Of real benefit to the customer was our ability to work closely with their process engineers to fine-tune the software, which allowed the system to perform exactly as required. Combined with accurate weighing and our ability to provide customized solutions made Control and Metering the best-suited supplier.

For further information on Automated Bag Filling contact us at info@spiroflow.com or call 1-704-246-0900.