Complete equipment for ice cream production

Requirement

A particular challenge was the realisation of the equipment for a completely new ice cream production facility. Our customer needed several checkweighers to check both individual ice cream and collective packs for compliance with the required nominal filling quantities and completeness.

X-ray machines were also procured, which were to be equipped with additional process monitoring.

Both checkweighers and X-ray systems were to be connected to the customer's line management system for continuous data exchange.

Solution

As part of the implementation, we were able to integrate a total of ten checkweighers into production. These are used for very different applications:

Six classic checkweighers, each with one lane, check the products cartoned by robots for completeness. Underweight cartons are ejected using a blowing nozzle so that these goods are not placed on the market.

In addition to these simple systems, various multi-lane systems were also installed:

A checkweigher with three lanes and another four-lane checkweigher are used to check large containers from 1 litre to 2.5 litres for compliance with the required nominal filling quantity in accordance with the pre-packaging regulations. Underweight packs are ejected via a retraction conveyor in accordance with the lane . As an accident can sometimes occur, especially when the containers are filled directly upstream, these two systems have been designed in IP69 for frequent cleaning operations.

However, the 2 checkweighers, each with 12 lanes, are certainly a highlight. These are used to check individual impulse ice cream and take over directly after the film packaging. After separation, the products are also checked for compliance with the specified weight limits. Products with incorrect weights are also ejected via a retraction conveyor to minimise product loss. The system thus offers twelve fully-fledged scales, including the associated outfeed, on a footprint of just 2,000 x 1,800 mm.

In addition to these installations, we were able to supplement the customer's X-ray scanners with customised outfeed systems and process monitoring options such as compressed air, outfeed or fill level monitoring. These were requested by the quality assurance department and integrated into the third-party products by us.

The customer had already requested a line management system at the start of the project. The aim was to achieve end-to-end communication between the MES for order control and the individual machines, including the recording of production data, in order to evaluate the processes and optimise weak points.

While the connection of the checkweighers supplied by us could be tackled directly, communication protocols had to be developed for the X-ray scanners. This means that there is only one interface to the customer's LMS, while Höfelmeyer translates these commands into the manufacturer-specific protocol for communication with the X-ray systems.

This connection enables end-to-end communication and thus ensures an automatic order change including selection of the correct product, both for the checkweigher and for the downstream X-ray systems.

The data returned by all systems, such as production output, average weights, number of foreign objects detected or sources of interference that have occurred, allow conclusions to be drawn for optimising production and thus help to increase efficiency.

• All-round provider | entire factory equipped with weighing technology
• Low space requirement
• Accurate ejection of incorrectly weighted products
• Automated 100% in-line inspection
• Integration of a communication protocol for connecting third-party devices to the customer's LMS
• Connection of third-party devices