What is a liquid Packaging Machine?
A machine that is used to pack liquid products in containers is known as a liquid packaging machine. Some examples of liquid packaging machines are beverage filling machines, viscous liquid food packaging machines, dairy filling machines, liquid cleaning products packaging machines, personal care packaging machines, etc. There are many varieties of liquid products available; likewise, there are several types of liquid packaging machines to handle these products. The packaging machine for packing liquid food is more significant and in demand. Such machines should be sterile and must undertake measures regarding the health and safety of liquid food.
Major types of liquid packaging machine
Vertical liquid packaging machine
Vertical liquid packaging machines are useful in packaging products like milk, soy sauce, soy milk, butter, vinegar, and other liquid products of this kind. The vertical machine is fully automatic and capable of film-forming, measuring, filling, sealing, counting, cutting, and printing the specifications on its own. Stainless steel is usually used in their construction, especially the parts that come in contact with the liquid products. Plug pump filling method is used to fill the measured quantity of liquid product in the packages form by the sterilized film. The packaging material usually is polyethene (PE), a plastic film that can be sealed by heat. The final product of the vertical liquid packaging machine is an appealing, sealed, and hygienic bag containing liquid products.
Rotary premade bag liquid packing machine.
Rotary premade bag liquid packing machine can automatically weigh and fill the calculated quantity of liquid product in premade bags. This type of machine can also be used to pack paste-type products. The functions of the rotary liquid packing machine include automatic weighing, filling, sealing packing and printing. You can adjust the machine settings for different bag sizes just by pressing a button. The storage tank, weight checker, piston pump, conveyer belt and metal detector are connected with the rotary liquid packing machine to form a complete packaging system.
Sachets pouch packing machine
Sachets pouch packing machine can be categorized into two types depending on the final product: single-lane packing machine and multi-lane packing machine. There can be as many as eighteen lanes in a multi-lane packing machine. Multi-lane machines are used for back sealing packing, three-side sealing liquid bags, and four side sealing liquid bags with lightweight. Moreover, their functions include automatic volume measuring, bag formation, sealing, filling, packing, printing, cutting, sachet making, and finally transporting the final product through a conveyer belt.
Liquid bottle filling machine
Depending on the degree of automatization and functionality, the type of container in which liquid product is to be filled, and a number of filling heads to fill the particular number of bottles and container at a time, different models of liquid packing machines are available. Some top and frequently liquid bottle packaging machines used in industries are semi-automatic liquid bottle filling machine, fully automatic liquid bottle filling machine, twin head liquid filler, four head liquid filler, six head liquid filling machine, eight head liquid filling machine, liquid filling with rubber stoppering machine, liquid filler machine for bottles, electronic liquid bottle filling machine, liquid filling machine with capping feature and liquid vial filling machine. Machines for filling viscous liquid products such as oils are also available in the market today. You can get an edible oil filling machine, cooking oil filling machine, lube oil filling machine and many other machines.
How a liquid Packaging Machine Works？
Vertical liquid packing machine
There is a feeding box present at the top of the vertical liquid packaging machine, which holds the measured amount of liquid product. The liquid moves downwards with gravity into the packaging machine from the feeding box. A roll of polyethylene (packaging material) is present, which is moved to the outer wall of the feeding box by three traction rollers. After this, a lapel bag former and a couple of continuous reserves on longitude sealers slowly transfer it to the adjoining cylinder. The longitude sealing roller plays a key role in heat sealing; it is heated and pressurized at the butt joint. Then this hot roller pulls the packaging film and feeds it to heat seal it strongly in the longitude direction to form a bag.
The filling component is composed of the feeding trough and the inner wall of the former that fill the liquid product in the plastic bag. The filling is followed by transverse heat sealing, which forms a transverse seal, and this transverse seal is cut along the centerline when the rotary cutter on the cutting tool comes in contact with the fixed cutter. The prime goal of this sealing and cutting is to complete the upper seal of the liquid packed bag and bottom seal the next plastic bag in line. The bottom-sealed bag can be moved to the sealing station after filling to complete the top seal. At last, the sealed packages are cut by a cutter and finally, a transport device transfer the liquid-filled packages to the output station. This whole operation is automatic and continuous.
Auto Weighing → Film Pulling → Date Printing → Filling→ Bag Forming → Bag Sealing→ Finished Product output.
Rotary premade bag liquid packing machine.
Auto Weighing → Picking up bag → Open bag → Filling→ Option → Bag Sealing→ Finished Product output.
Sachets pouch packing machine
The working principle of the sachet pouch packing machine is almost similar to the vertical liquid packing machine. But the size of the plastic bag used in the sachet pouch packing machine is smaller and lighter.
Liquid bottle filling machine
The liquid bottle filling machine operates at high pressure; that’s why this whole filling process can be referred to as liquid pressure filling. The liquid move into the plastic bottles depends upon its weight; the liquid will flow only when the pressure of liquid stored is equal to the amount of air present in the plastic bottle.
A liquid bottle filling machine is easy to operate and control; moreover, it is ideal for filling the accurate quantity of liquid product into gallons or containers. Furthermore, the “No Bottle-No Fill” mechanism of the bottle prevents the spillage of the liquid product; with this mechanism, the filler will halt automatically when there is no plastic bottle on the conveyer belt. Other than that, the machine is also equipped with another mechanism that allows the machine to adjust for the different sized plastic bottles without replacing any part.
Why Use Liquid Packing Machine? (Advantages )
Wide packaging ability:
The liquid packaging machines can be employed to pack and fill the liquids of different viscosity and properties.
Convenient operation:
The liquid packaging machines have a PLC control operating system with a man-machine display, making it easy to operate. Furthermore, this machine is compatible with different types of packaging bags.
The high degree of automation:
A machine does each and every step of the liquid packaging operation without any human involvement. If in case of any failure, an automatic alarm will alert you.
Easy cleaning:
The liquid packaging machine is very easy to clean. It has a waterproof body which means you can wash it with water without worrying about corrosion. Moreover, regular washing and proper maintenance will increase the work-life of the machine.
Hygienic construction:
The parts of the machine that comes in contact with the liquid and packaging film are made up of stainless steel to guarantee sanitation of the product and comply with GMP standards.
Efficient:
The liquid packaging machine carefully and quickly fills the liquid without wasting it. Therefore, the machine is quite efficient, high yield rate and can save cost and time. Otherwise, it would consume a lot of time, cost and workforce to do this task manually.
Wide applications
Liquid packaging or liquid filling machines are vital machines for various industries such as pharmaceutical, cosmetics, food & beverages industries where liquids are filled and packed in several types of containers and pouches.
This machine is suitable for packing liquids or pastes, such as milk, water, juice, sauce, ketchup, flavour oils, honey, liquid detergent, etc.
How to Choose a Liquid Packing Machine? (Buyer Guide)
Liquid filling machines are usually custom-built for the product you want to pack. While there are many factors and aspects to consider, and those factors may vary from project to project, there are a few that demand some thought for every project. Let’s take a quick look at some of the more recurring factors below:
PACKING WEIGHT
The packing weight may define which liquid packaging machine you need to buy. For instance, a sachet pouch packing machine is suitable for small bags. While vertical liquid packaging machine and rotary liquid packing machine are used when the packing weight is high.
PACKING TYPE
You can decide which liquid packaging machine according to your need, whether you want to pack liquid in bottles or bags.
PRODUCT VISCOSITY
Some liquid packaging machines are simply suitably equipped to fill thick liquid products while others are good at filling thin liquid products, and then other models can handle both thick and thin liquids. A buyer must consider the viscosity of the product he wants to pack and confirm that the machine he bought can handle such liquids. For example, an overflow liquid filler may be the best option for a free-flowing liquid like water. However, that same machine may not be good at handling a viscous liquid such as honey. Whereas a pump or a piston filler will be a good choice for thicker liquid products. The bottom line is, a manufacturer and buyer must consider the product viscosity while manufacturing a liquid Packaging Machine.
FILL PRINCIPLE
Besides the product’s viscosity, a buyer must decide which filling principle he wants to use to fill the liquid. For example, some packagers may want to use an overflow liquid filler to repeatedly fill every bottle or bag to the same level, even if the inner volume is slightly different in each bag or bottle. If you want to enhance the appeal of your product and wish to fill the liquid is clear and see-through bottles, then such machines are good options. Whereas some packagers who want to fill their product by volume use piston or gravity liquid fillers. These fillers fill the same volume in every bottle, but the fill level may vary from bottle to bottle. A number of other fill principles also presented, and more than one fill principle may work for any given project. In such cases, other factors of a project may be considered to opt for the best fill principle.
PRODUCTION
How many bags or bottles must a packaging machine must fill to meet the production demand? The question will take you to decide how many degrees of automation you want to add to your machine. Consider a semi-automatic filling machine or a tabletop model if your production demand is only a few hundred packages per week. But if your demand gets high in future, you can always upgrade these two machines by adding automatic fill heads. However, in some cases, even packagers with smaller production demand may want an automatic packaging machine if a rapid, significant rise in the production demand is expected. Packagers must take current demand into account and consider expected growth in the future while choosing an ideal liquid filling machine.
CHANGEOVER & CLEANING
Changeover and cleaning are an important factor to look at when buying a new liquid packaging machine. Some liquid packaging machines are easy to changeover and clean, while some require more attention and are difficult to clean. At the same time, some liquid filling machines require disassembly to clean all the parts completely and ready them for a new product. In most machines, the cleaning process can be made simple, quick and easy by installing a clean-in-place (CIP) system in PLC and man-machine interface. This decreases the need for labour, and you don’t have to disassemble the machine to clean it.