Category: Blog

Liquid filling machine is an automatic filling machine that can fill liquid such as water, wine, juice, ketchup, cream, honey, and other materials with certain fluidity into bottles or bags. This machine replaces the traditional manual filling method and reduces the input and use of labor. But at the same time, the maximum optimization of production time and benefits has been achieved. The formed liquid products we see in daily life all need to be filled through liquid packaging equipment.

For the classification of liquid filling equipment, we have many different standards. 

The way materials are transferred from the storage bin to the packaging container often differs according to the characteristics of the materials. According to different principle of transmission driving force, we can simply divide the common liquid filling methods into the following:

Gravity filling

Gravity filling is to fill the material in the storage bin into the packaging container through the material’s own gravity.

Most common liquids have high fluidity, and widely used bottle packaging is one of the most common liquid packaging methods in daily life. The method of gravity filling does not have very strict requirements for the container, plastic bottles, glass bottles and other bottles can be used. Gravity filling is a good choice when the producer has a strong material flow. The filling material pipe extends into the bottom of the bottle to prevent liquid splashing and reduce waste. The filling quantitative error in the packaging container is small. Most of the bottled liquid beverages that we can see in our lives are filled by gravity.

The particularity and convenience of gravity filling make gravity filling the most common method of liquid filling. High precision, fast speed, meet the production requirements of larger output, can produce greater economic benefits.

Piston filling

A simple understanding of piston filling, its principle is to use the method of increasing pressure to press the material into the package.

It is best to fill the material with the piston filling method with the liquid with slight viscosity and poor fluidity, such as ketchup, cake liquid, gel, etc. There are many types of piston filling machines, including automatic linear piston filling machines that can fill quickly and accurately, top piston filling machines, entry-level desktop piston filling machines, and other models. A variety of piston filling machines can meet the packaging of most light viscous liquids on the market.

The application of the piston filling machine solves the packaging of light viscous liquids. It is widely used in ketchup, thick sauces, and other sauces without granules. It is not limited by the shape of the filling container and is flexible in operation. It is especially suitable for liquid packaging which requires certain precision. The piston filling machine occupies a small area and is easy to operate. It is an entry-level model for liquid filling.

Pump filling

For highly viscous liquid materials such as honey, shampoo, face cream, etc., the material cannot be filled into the container by falling by its own gravity. Because of the high viscosity of the material itself, the filling speed of gravity filling and piston filling cannot achieve the desired effect. Therefore, it is necessary to rely more on the power provided by external machinery for filling.

Pump filling is one such filling method. Through the pump system used in the machinery, and then cooperate with the valve and other mechanical parts to achieve the purpose of conveying high-viscosity materials, and realize the packaging of such high-viscosity liquid materials.

For the filling form of liquid filling equipment, liquid filling machine can also be divided into linear filling and rotary filling, etc. Different classification criteria will produce different classification results. However, it still falls under the category of gravity filling, piston filling, and pump filling.

Refer:
https://www.researchgate.net/figure/olumetric-or-piston-filling-system_fig1_257548738

Light, the most common substance, is hard to capture, but it affects our daily lives all the time.

People have used light as a resource for a long time. The use of light plays an irreplaceable role in the development of human society.

Origin and History

People’s research on polarized light began in 1669. Danish scientist Rasmus Bartholin discovered that birefringence occurs when light passes through the  Iceland spar, that is, two beams of light are refracted. Of these two lights, one follows the known optical theory at that time, while the other is an “unusual light” outside the scope of people’s theoretical knowledge. Rasmus Bartholin was unable to explain this phenomenon with the known optical theory at the time. Therefore, since then, people’s theoretical research on light has taken on a new direction.

The concept of “polarization” originated from the “father of polarization”: Étienne-Louis Malus. His painstaking research, deduced from the experimental results known  Malus’s law: I = I (Ο) cos²θ. (where “I” is the initial intensity and ”θ” is the angle between the light’s initial polarization direction and the axis of the polarizer). This research result is of great significance for future optical research.

Since then, a steady stream of people have joined the research team of optical principles, and the theory of optics has been constantly developing and improving.

Application and Development

In the current social development, the principle of light polarization is widely used in various occasions. Polarization theory of light is used in geology, seismology, chemistry, astronomy, and other fields.

In the food packaging industry, polarized light is also quietly playing a role.

The heat-sealing of the package is a process in which the plastic packaging material used for packaging is appropriately melted by increasing the temperature, and then a certain pressure is applied to re-bond the plastic packaging material.

During the heat-sealing process, as the temperature rises, the original polymer chains are broken and the hydrogen bonds change, which causes the material to pile up even more tightly. For some plastic films, the birefringence principle of polarized light can be used to enhance the observation of thermal seal conditions. The reason for this operation is to judge the heat seal of the plastic film by comparing the difference in the transmittance of visible light through the plastic film.

After the temperature rises, under the action of pressure, a series of changes of the sealing material are the prerequisites for determining the change of visible light transmittance. According to the light transmittance, the crystallinity of the seal can be further inferred, and the uniformity of crystallization in the seal area can also be checked.

From the common understanding, the uniform crystallization, that is, good sealing effect. Under the irradiation of visible light, the overall sealing area will show a similar color tone. When the crystallization is not uniform, that is, the sealing effect is not good, the different sealing effect will show a different color of light.

The color of the light will be different because of the difference in sealing material and thickness. However, in the same sealed packaging, people can according to the light through the plastic film sealing presented by the different colors, to judge whether there is uneven  heat-sealing crystallization on the packaging sealing.

In industrial applications, the use of polarized light can quickly help people identify defects in the heat seal. But the process has rarely been used in practice. There are many reasons for this, among which cost and efficiency are the two biggest factors. In the operation process of the packaging machinery used today, after the heat-sealing seal is recognized by polarized light, heat-sealing packages with poor sealing performance cannot be effectively selected and reheat sealed. Secondly, people’s requirements for heat-sealing have not reached a very strict evaluation standard, and a small part of the defects left in the heat-sealing will not have a great impact on the packaging and the materials in it. Under the dual pressure of cost and efficiency, the detection of heat seal is gradually reduced in practical use.  

There are many ways to check the heat seal, and the use of polarized light is only one of them. 

Refer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat_sealer
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polarization_(waves)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Birefringence
https://www.ni.com/en-us/innovations/white-papers/06/inspecting-transparent-materials-for-material-defects.html
https://www.fda.gov/food/laboratory-methods-food/bam-chapter-22c-examination-flexible-and-semirigid-food-containers-integrity

Canning is one of the most common ways of packaging food around us. We can find canned meat, canned fish and canned fruit in the supermarket. The packaging method of cans preserves the shape of the food inside the cans, and the hard shell provides convenient for transportation and stacking of cans. However, looking back at the development of canning, like other great achievement, this is not happened overnight. Nicolas Appert, known as the father of canning, has extensive experience in the food industry. A former worker at a pickled cabbage factory, winery, candy factory and restaurant, when he ran his own candied food business, he found that selling fruit pulp and wine, and he found that in the same storage environment he believed, some foods were prone to spoilage, some can be kept for a long time. In order to solve this puzzle, he began to explore the reason.

At the beginning of the 19th century, the issue of food supplies to the army made the French government anxious at the time. Rushing on the road and the hot environment accelerate the speed of food spoilage. Food cannot be provided in time, which will inevitably lead to a decline in the physical fitness of the soldiers participating in the war and weaken the combat effectiveness of the troops. In order to solve this thorny problem, the government at that time took out a large bounty to find a way to preserve food for a long time.

Nicolas Appert discovered a bottle of juice that had not been used for a long time but had not gone bad, so he began researching ways to extend the shelf life of food. Nicolas Appert conjectured that the spoilage of food may be caused by air. In Nicolas Appert’s view, the glass bottle was the device that could be used at that time, with the least air penetration. Therefore, because of this its material and the advantages of holding more things, the wide-mouth glass bottle has become the object of Nicolas Appert’s choice of installation food.

Finally, in 1804, after nearly a decade of hard and repeated experiments, Nicolas Appert discovered the mystery. He found that by sealing the food in the bottle and heating it appropriately, the food in the bottle can be stored for a longer period of time without spoiling. 

After many attempts, Nicolas Appert stoop up again in the failure of the experiment. At last he came up with a more comprehensive method, that is, first fill the glass jar with food, then gently stopper the bottle with a cork, put it in water and boil for 30 to 60 minutes. Before the food has not cooled down, use a cork stopper to close the bottle mouth tightly, and finally use thread to reinforce the canvas or seal the bottle mouth with wax. In this way, the purpose of preserving food and extending the shelf life can be achieved through the method of re-sealing after high-pressure and high-temperature sterilization and preservation. This was the original food canning technology. Nicolas Appert’s glass canned food is the original prototype of canned food.

Nicolas Appel’s method solved the army food problem encountered by Napoleon. This technology is also widely used in food preservation in the military and nautical future. 

Soon after Nicolas Appert’s glass cans, Peter Durand, an Englishman, began to choose a new material to store food. Instead of Nicolas Appert’s glass bottles, Peter Durand used tin cans. This technology has been passed to the United Kingdom and the United States. Canneries began to spring up on both lands. Canned food as a form of food packaging, has gradually entered people’s lives.After the appearance of the bottle opener, canned food as a form of packaging is more popular than ever before.

During the war, canned food influenced by Nicolas Appert became the army’s first choice. In modern society, the packaging of drinks such as Coca-Cola was also influenced by the Nicolas Appert bottling technology.

It can be seen that Nicolas Appert’s canning technology is a huge change that cannot be ignored for food preservation and even the entire food field.

Refer:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicolas_Appert
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Durand
https://www.cancentral.com/can-stats/history-of-the-can
https://www.encyclopedia.com/food/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/packaging-and-canning-history
https://www.qbyv.com/product/history-of-the-can-timeline/

The R&D team of ECHO Machinery Co., Ltd. pioneered the Vacuum Flatten Packaging Machine MRZK-200P in China.

Advantage

While reducing production costs, MRZK-200P also improves the hygiene standards of the entire line and the efficiency of the packaging line, completely freeing hands and maximizing profits.

MRZK-200P is the first packaging machine with a horizontal vacuum chamber in China. The most traditional material shaping method is to use manual flattening. Too much manual involvement in the production line will cause health and safety hazards. Say goodbye to traditional vacuum chambers and traditional shaping methods, MRZK-200P vacuum processes, and seals materials in the vacuum chamber in a horizontal state. Reduce the participation of personnel on the production line, reduce production costs, improve production efficiency, and maximize profit conversion.

Innovation

The R&D team of ECHO Machinery Co., Ltd. created an original horizontal vacuum chamber, which completely throws away the traditional primitive inefficient method. The machine vibrates and shapes the material in the package in a horizontal state to ensure the overall uniform distribution of materials.

The machine beating replaced the previous manual operation, improved efficiency, and reduced material hygiene and safety risks. We insist on innovation on the road of packaging, considering the needs of customers and consumers. We abandoned the traditional way of pressing the material by hand, the fully automated process runs through the entire production line to reduce the contact between people and materials on the production line. We do not destroy the original form of the material while discharging the air in the packaging.

Before MRZK-200P, 100 degrees vacuum has always been an unachievable standard on the market, but MRZK-200P turns this impossible into a possibility.

A vacuum of 100 degrees is a complete vacuum. Such a vacuum environment is more conducive to the preservation of the items in the package. As far as food is concerned, extending the shelf life of food brings many benefits to both consumers and manufacturers.

The successful development of the horizontal vacuum chamber is an important change in packaging machinery, and vacuum brings a new possibility to packaging.

Sealing process

A good vacuum packaging should be as close as possible to perfection in every detail. Not only the main part where the material is located, but also the sealing treatment should be strictly controlled. Clean seal is the basic, and clean seal is the guarantee of good vacuum packaging effect. After multiple reshaping, the material packaging effect reaches a high standard. Sealing in the vacuum chamber ensures sanitation and safety, and also ensures the vacuum tightness of the packaging. MRZK-200P has carried out more stringent treatment on the packaging seal to ensure that the seal is clean and free of impurity. The sealing of the package treated by the previous semi-automatic vacuum equipment in the past always carried more or less sundries and defects. The seal folding, containing oil and material, etc. are not uncommon. Such vacuum packaging is easy to leak air, increasing the risk of loss. 200P can be smoothed and shaped in one machine, and the finished packaging products are in high quality, which brings new surprises and better experience to consumers.

High-quality accessories

Every time we make unremitting attempts, we hope that we can get satisfactory results. ECHO Machinery’s R&D team leads the industry by discarding additional vacuum accessories and achieve 100 degrees vacuum. MRZK-200P is at the forefront of the industry, creating complete vacuum conditions to extend the storage time limit of materials, making materials safer and consumers more assured. The divider plate of imported material, -0.9 to -0.8 MPa negative pressure suction is more thorough. In addition, the design of MRZK-200P is focused on each user. According to the user’s operating requirements, MRZK-200P is designed with a simple operation interface and one-key operation, even a novice who uses it for the first time can easily get started.

In 2020, the market size of vacuum packaging machines has reached $12.9 billion. In 2025, the market size is expected to reach $16.4 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 5%. People’s requirements for food storage are increasing, which helps the development of the entire vacuum packaging machinery industry. This is indeed the case.

There are many foods in the market that use vacuum packaging, but due to technical or mechanical problems, the vacuum packaging effect is not particularly ideal. It is not uncommon for materials and grease to be mixed in the seal of the packaging bag, or the packaging seal is folded. With the continuous expansion of the vacuum packaging market, people’s requirements for vacuum packaging have been in an increasingly stringent development and change.

To facilitate transportation and sales of products, flexible packaging is always more selected by food manufacturers in food packaging. Flexible packaging also promoted the innovation of packaging machinery.

The Asia-Pacific region is the main market for vacuum packaging, followed by Europe. In the Asia-Pacific region, with the increase in per capita disposable income, people’s expenditure on food packaging has also begun to increase. More and more health and safety incidents are also updating and improving people’s hygienic standards for food packaging. People always hope that vacuum-packaged food can have better packaging effects and higher packaging quality.

For packaging machinery manufacturers, how to improve packaging quality has also become an important direction of machinery research. A good vacuum packaging machine must not only have a high-quality packaging appearance, but also a good vacuum effect. In addition, how to truly realize 100-degree vacuum packaging is also an important problem to be solved in the field of mechanical packaging.

The reform of food packaging machinery has attracted much attention. The increase in disposable income and the improvement of living standards have caused people to pay more attention to food hygiene and safety, packaging details, etc. The development and production of MRZK-200P is precisely because of the changes and new requirements that people have produced in these aspects.

Winter is coming, the weather is cold, so your factory plans to stop work, but you are worried about the maintenance of packaging machine? Don’t worry, learn our tips right now!

Full cleaning & dust cover

After the work stoppage of the packaging machine, the residual stains on its surface shall be cleaned up comprehensively. At the same time, dust cover shall be used to prevent dust, so that the packaging machine can enter the state faster when it starts work in spring.

Butter the CAM

When shutdown, the cams of the packaging machine frame are coated with good butter, which can not only prevent rust and corrosion, but also reduce the loss of the body when returning to work. We recommend the use of light and thick butter, easy to spread, the effect is better.

Seal the rack & electric box

Close all doors that can be closed, and seal racks and electrical boxes with cloth and foam to prevent rats and other creatures from damaging the wires. We also provide special anti-rat net, effect pull group, customers who need to contact us.

Reinforced circular cup filler

Many customers use our Circular Cup Filler. In our Circular Cup Filler, we use food grade PTFE, which has obvious characteristics of thermal expansion and cold contraction. Therefore, the Cup will loosen in the winter and be fixed with our O-type stiffeners to ensure smooth operation in the coming year.

Empty the water

Our vacuum packaging machine uses the supporting Industrial Chiller. The temperature is too low in winter, and it may freeze inside the machine when it is shut down, so it is not recommended to put it outside for use. When shutdown, it is recommended to empty the internal moisture, so as to prevent low temperature freezing.

Premade pouch protection

In addition to packaging machine, we also need to protect the premade pouch from dust or water accumulation on its surface, which can effectively improve the success rate of packaging and opening.

Read More

We also wrote other articles on maintenance:

Packaging Machine Maintenance Guide
Operation Process & Jobs Division of Packing Machine
Guidelines for safe winterize of packaging machines

Visit our Warranty Service page to learn more about our warranty service policy.

It’s a dramatic turnaround in the global environmental landscape —— in contrast to the U.S. announcement last year that it was withdrawing from the Paris Agreement. In October, Shinzo Abe announced in National Diet that Japan would achieve carbon neutrality in 2050. On the 28th of the same month, Moon Jae-in also stated that South Korea would achieve carbon neutrality in 2050. With the end of the US election, Biden made it clear that US will rejoin to the Paris Agreement. At the same time, with the impact of COVID-19 on the world, Environmental issues have been raised to unprecedented heights. Technologies such as green energy, recyclable waste, and carbon capture are all actually developing, although we know that such statements in many countries are based on political considerations. 2020 will become an important year in the environmental field. The packaging industry is no exception. In this process, the concept of Green Package is widely spread and accepted.

Standard

As early as 1987, the concept of Green Package was proposed in Our Common Future(also known as the Brundtland report) of the World Commission on Environment and Development. Many countries and regions have also begun to consider environmental factors in packaging standards ——

European Union

The European Parliament and Council Directive has detailed regulations on packaging and packaging waste in 94/62/EC of 1994/12/20. It became a formal law on 1996/6/30, and was revised to 2004/12/EC on 2004/2/11, and its main contents are as follows:

Limits on the content of heavy metal harmful substances: the total amount of lead, cadmium, mercury, and hexavalent chromium shall not exceed 0.01% (100ppm), it is worth noting that this is the basic requirement for each package, we can understand it as the minimum but not the only requirement.

Recycling target of packaging materials: reach 55%～80% by 2008/12/31, the minimum allowable amount of packaging materials recycling is 60% glass, 60% paper, 50% metal, 22.5% plastic, 15% wood. By 2010, the packaging materials will be free of heavy metals and other harmful substances.

United States

There are related regulations in the Toxics in Packaging Prevention Act of the United States. It holds the same views and technical indicators as the EU, and has a buffer on the time gradient. The total concentration of lead, cadmium, mercury and hexavalent chromium in any packaging aids shall not exceed the following regulations:

• Less than 0.06%(600ppm) of weight two years after the entry into force of this Act
• Less than 0.025%(250ppm) of weight three years after the entry into force of this Act
• Less than 0.01%(100ppm) of weight four years after the entry into force of this Act

The purpose of the bill is to reduce harm while promoting the widespread use of recycled materials in packaging and auxiliary products.

China

China’s Food Hygiene Law of the People’s Republic of China stipulates that relevant standards must be met, which includes corresponding specifications for plastics, paper, ceramics, rubber, aluminum products and other materials. It was first stipulated in GB 9683-1988 that the content of heavy metals in 4% acetic acid must be less than 1mg/L. The later GB/T 16716 is the same as ISO 18601 Packaging and the environment.

In addition, in 2019, China also launched the Method and Criteria for Green Packaging Assessment, which stipulates the evaluation method of green packaging, which is divided into four categories: resource attributes, energy attributes, environmental attributes, and product attributes. These include optimization of packaging system, addition rate of recycled materials, water consumption, energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions, degradation performance and so on.

As the world pays more attention to the environment, the environmental protection requirements of packaging are getting higher and higher. In order to meet the requirements of packaging and the protection of the environment in various countries in the future, we should pay more attention to green packaging.

The establishment of the above standards promoted the development of the industry to a large extent. For the principle of green package, you can read our Packaging Materials Pollute & green Packaging Materials.

Market

It is generally estimated that the current green packaging market is around US$250 billion, and the compound growth rate in the next five years is around 5.5%-6.0%. The Asia-Pacific region has the fastest growth rate, and the current market share in Europe is the highest at around 37%.

There are two main factors that maintain the rapid growth of the green packaging market:

Consumers’ increasing environmental awareness

In the survey conducted by CYCAN, the vast majority of young Chinese interviewed (84%) recognized the seriousness of climate change, and even more than 40% of young Chinese considered it the most serious global problem at the moment, followed by social inequality (12.9%) and public health (8.3%), this investigation is particularly prominent in 2020 when the global epidemic is raging. 95% of the interviewees agreed that “when emitting greenhouse gases, we must consider fulfilling our own responsibilities and being responsible for the future and the next generation.” Only 31.6% of young people believe that “now you don’t have to worry about the energy problems of the next generation.”

More than 50.0% of people in South America and North America like green packaging when buying any product. In addition, 42.0% of respondents expressed their willingness to pay more for green packaging options.

The government takes the initiative to guide the market and introduce relevant laws and regulations

• In July 2019, in order to reduce the pressure on the environment, China launched a new waste sorting program. Courier companies use recyclable boxes, reduce unnecessary packaging, and use biodegradable packaging materials. According to the State Post Bureau, by the end of 2019, it is expected that 95% of delivered packages will use electronic waybills to minimize the use of paper, and this green packaging plan will save the country 207 million single-use plastics each year bag.
• The Australian government has set a goal to adopt 100% recyclable packaging at least by 2025.
• The Netherlands implements an agreement with packaging manufacturers, stipulating that no less than 65% of the packaging materials of the company can be reused, so that the packaging material resources can be recycled to the maximum extent and promote the development of green packaging in the country.
• The United States implements measures such as waste disposal fees and reuse, and vigorously develops pollution-free and easily degradable packaging materials, making the development of green packaging in the United States reach more than 80%.

These actions have led many companies to develop green packaging:

• Nestlé plans to spend up to 2 billion Swiss francs in January 2020 to convert its packaging from virgin plastic to food-grade recycled plastic.
• Coca-Cola promised to collect a can or bottle for everyone that it sells by 2025, to ensure that all its packaging is 100% recyclable, and to ensure that at least 50% of its plastic bottles are from recycled materials.
• Unilever India Co., Ltd. promised to use 100% recyclable packaging by 2025, and has transformed from commercial polymers to performance-based polymers.
• Walmart is committed to reducing the environmental impact of packaging for a long time. Its Sustainable Packaging Manual explains the principles of green packaging from the perspectives of optimized design, sustainable procurement and support for recycling.

There are many such cases, which illustrates the global trend of green packaging. Most companies will have to adopt green packaging in order to maintain an important position in the green packaging market. At the same time, people are more willing to choose green packaging products. Through effective green marketing, users can quickly improve the evaluation of your brand. There is no doubt that Green Packaging will play a very important role in the packaging field in the future. If your company fails to keep up with the development of green packaging, it is likely to be eliminated by the market.

Green Trade Barriers

Green packaging regulations refer to a relatively high and complete packaging material market access system established by developed countries, including standards for waste recycling, reuse and regeneration. It is an environmental protection measure to prevent packaging materials and packaging waste from harming the environment or damaging the health of users.

Green packaging regulations can effectively solve environmental problems and are the best way to achieve the coordinated development of packaging and the environment, It is in line with the world’s environmental protection trend. However, this type of regulation is often used by some countries as a standard for import approval to achieve the purpose of restricting imports and become Green Trade Barriers. Green Trade Barriers have become a trade barrier widely adopted by many developed countries because of its external rationality and internal concealment. If you read the content in the “Standard” of this article carefully, it is easy to realize the existence of green packaging barriers. Under the new situation in the future, we should recognize, understand and solve the problem of green packaging. If you are in a developed country, green packaging can save you from legal issues. If you are in a developing country, green packaging can help you expand your market better and gain market access from developed countries.

Green packaging has many benefits, but it will increase your production costs, but don’t worry too much. The cost of supporting green packaging is very worthwhile, it can increase the value of your brand and avoid unnecessary legal issues. At the same time, green packaging products can have a higher premium, and with the development of technology, the cost of green packaging will gradually decrease. As long as the development trend of green packaging can continue, it will eventually make it the same as the current ordinary packaging. By then, the holy grail of environmentalists —— zero emissions and 100% recycling must not be far away.

Refer:
https://sites.google.com/site/technologiesmarketnews/green-packaging-market
http://www.gov.cn/banshi/2005-08/31/content_68767.htm
https://dtsc.ca.gov/preventing-toxic-substances-in-packaging-fact-sheet/
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A32004L0012
https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/ALL/?uri=CELEX%3A31994L0062
https://www.iso.org/standard/55869.html
http://www.gb688.cn/bzgk/gb/newGbInfo?hcno=557A035CFE7F39A82B8ABCC7644902B4
http://www.gb688.cn/bzgk/gb/newGbInfo?hcno=052FF52B23A7B1C94B3C155528DEAD9B
https://www.ftc.gov/tips-advice/business-center/guidance/environmental-claims-summary-green-guides
https://undocs.org/en/A/42/427&referer=/english/&Lang=C
https://www.climatechangenews.com/2019/06/14/countries-net-zero-climate-goal/
https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54256826
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carbon_neutrality
https://www.unenvironment.org/interactive/emissions-gap-report/2019/index.php
http://www.ftchinese.com/story/001090815
https://www.walmartsustainabilityhub.com/

You may have taken the Chinese high-speed railway, have you ever wondered why china’s high-speed railway is so stable. It’s because the chief designer gets motion sick. More importantly, this stability is attributed to an indispensable component —— Screw.

The small screw usually goes unnoticed, however, it’s the high-quality screws and nuts that resist loosening from the strong vibration when trains are in operation. Thus, this little anti-loosening screw guarantees stability. The same principle applies to our high-speed packaging machine. Our packaging machine also uses exactly the same standard screws as the high-speed rail.

If you have ever understood this industry, you may think only Hardlock Industrial Co., Ltd. could produce never loosening screws. And the screws are imported from Japan. Why are your screws in packaging machines domestically made? Actually, there is no such thing as an anti-loosening screw in the world, but it has a strong anti-loosening performance. Hardlock is no perfect, It has a short life and is expensive. Therefore, China does not use Japanese-made screws at all let alone purchase them. On the contrary, China has already broken through this obstacle and created another kind of nuts developed by China Academy of Railway Sciences. This technology was licensed to use by several Chinese companies such as Tieke Track. Both in terms of use and life, they are superior to Japan’s never loosening screws. Therefore, the grass is not always greener on the other side of the fence.

Doesn’t such a small screw reflect China’s craftsmanship spirit? The excellent quality of ECHO Machinery is a result of fostering China’s craftsmanship spirit of striving for the best.

At this time, we will do some special treatments on the filler, such as using Teflon coating. You can read Application of Teflon(PTFE) Coating on Multihead Weigher to learn more about this. But more often, some products are completely unable to use conventional solutions for filling, such as whole chicken, eggs, noodles, and because we have the ability to independently research and develop the filler, we have developed many filling equipments to meet various requirements. Individual needs, these are tailor-made for our machines, here are some common feeders:

Multihead Weigher

Multihead weigher is one of the most common filling equipment, which is often used to fill medium or large particles. We have already introduced it in detail before —— History & Application of Multihead Weigher

Liquid Filler

Liquid Filler can fill liquids, sauces, pastes, etc. It uses the weight of the liquid itself to let the liquid flow from the liquid inlet into the liquid storage can, then close the liquid inlet, open the liquid outlet, and press the liquid out by an electric bolt. However, in many cases liquid may be vicious and not easy to flow down naturally, therefore, a vacuum is used to press the liquid into the liquid storage can in many cases.

Auger Filler

Auger Filler is usually used to fill powder. There is a continuously rotating screw shaft inside to feed the powder into the funnel. Because the screw shaft always runs at a constant speed, the amount of powder dropped in each cycle is roughly the same. For those customers who may need more accurate weighing, you can also pretend the weighing equipment on Auger Filler.

Circular Cup Filler

Circular Cup Filler is a feeder designed for a single larger product. Take the whole chicken as an example. There are filler cups on the ring shaft, the size of which can fit a whole chicken (the shape and size can be customized according to customer needs), put the whole chicken into it, and when it rotates to the position, the bucket rod will push the whole chicken into the packaging bag and enter the following packaging process.

Contraction Cup Filler

Contraction Cup Filler is often used in some products with high viscosity, which is not easy to be quantitated by other equipment.

The above machines are mainly food packaging. There are also specific machines in other industries. For example, in the medical industry, we may also use a capsule counting machine to count capsules. We strive for One Product One Filler to solve all filling problems of products and design the most suitable packaging system for each customer.

In addition, we also support various types of elevators. You only need to pour products into the storage area to complete the automatic delivery of materials, which greatly saves labor costs and improves production efficiency. We not only provide packaging machines, but also the entire packaging product line and packaging solutions. Contact us, our customer service and engineers will design the most suitable packaging line for you.

Rotary Packaging Machine

As the name suggests, the Rotary Packaging Machine is to feed the premade pouch into a rotating turntable. The pouch rotates to different workstations with the turntable, and a series of packaging operations are usual.

The mainstream models have about 6-12 workstations. The more workstations, the more flexible and the more functions that can be implemented. It runs like the following picture:

Horizontal Packaging Machine

The Horizontal Packaging Machine adopts a horizontal direction. The overall workflow is similar to that of the Rotary Packaging Machine, and it is also divided into many stations. It runs like the following picture:

Speed

In many cases, the packaging speed of the machine depends on the filling speed, so there is no difference in the speed of the two for those products with a slower filling speed. Some products have a faster filling speed. At this time, the packaging machine becomes a bottleneck. In general, the speed of the two is similar. However, if the Horizontal type adopts the double bagging method, its speed can be slightly higher than that of the Rotary type, reaching about 100 bags. And Rotary type with the double bag can reach 125BPM. However, the price of the double-bagging machine is higher, and the filling volume is lower. At the same time, you need to purchase two sets of filling equipment. If your workshop has enough space, it is better to buy two sets of packaging equipment.

Another factor that affects the speed is the weight of the products. Because of the centrifugal force generated when Rotary type rotates, it needs to be slowed down to maintain smooth operation when packing heavier products. Simply put, at the same speed, Horizontal type tends to be more stable than Rotary type.

Filling Volume

Horizontal type is at a disadvantage in filling volume because its horizontal width limit makes Horizontal type’s filling volume much smaller than Rotary type.

In terms of accuracy, the two are the same, because the filling machine actually determines the accuracy, and both can have enough filling time.

Pouch Type

There is not much difference between the two types of pouch. Both Rotary type and Horizontal type can be perfectly adapted to the most prefabricated pouch. In terms of pouch width, Rotary type has an advantage. As mentioned before, the horizontal type’s pouch width is narrower.

Price

If other factors are the same, the prices of the two are similar. However, Rotary type can often have a large filling volume and a larger bandwidth, so in fact, the Rotary type cost performance will be higher.

Repair & Maintenance

Because the Horizontal type control system and the turntable are located behind the fuselage and the Rotary type is located below, the Horizontal type is easier to maintain. Horizontal type can open the maintenance door more conveniently and troubleshoot errors. When repairing the Rotary type, the debugger needs to squat or lie down to see the internal system underneath.

Another difference between Rotary type and Horizontal type is the bag width adjustment. Rotary can easily change the width of the bag. You only need to modify the settings on the control panel or rotate the pitch adjustment knob, and the machine will automatically change the distance between all grippers to adapt to the width of the bag. The horizontal type adjustment of the bandwidth is inconvenient. The debugger must replace some parts to achieve the purpose of adjusting the bag width, which takes a long time and requires additional costs.

TL;DR

On the whole, Rotary type is better than Horizontal type. Most customers also choose Rotary type. Rotary packaging machine has more than 95% market share. However, in some cases, you can also choose Horizontal type. For example, if you need a small dose, high precision, and high speed, the price of Horizontal will be cheaper.

The above content was updated in 2021.5.6 because the packaging industry has been developing, so some content may be out of date, and we will come back to update them from time to time.

Generally speaking, the following issues should be considered when choosing a packaging machine:

• The price of the packaging machine
• Speed of packaging machine
• Ease of use of packaging machines
• The price of packaging supplies
• The size of the machine
• Ease of repair and maintenance
• Whether it meets food safety production standards
• And the most important point-each type of food needs a corresponding packaging machine. Obviously, liquid packaging production lines cannot be used to package powder. Therefore, the matching and design of the assembly line is also very important.

Premade Pouch Packaging Machine

This is a relatively new type of packaging machine. It uses pre-made pouch to complete the packaging. The machine automatically picks up the premade bags and opening-filling-sealing, Under certain circumstances there is sometimes dust removal, Nitrogen filling and other processes. There are two main types of this type of machine, rotary and horizontal. In terms of function, they are similar. The following video shows how the rotary premade pouch packaging machine packs snacks:

You may have discovered that the zipper pouch is used in the video above. This is one of the advantages of the premade pouch packaging machine. Since the packaging bag is made in advance, the premade pouch can have many very complex designs, such as Re-closable pouch, Spout pouch, Zipper pouch, Squeezed-neck pouch, etc., which make your products stand out on supermarket shelves and achieve higher sales, but such machines will also have higher costs, including the cost of the machine itself and the cost of packaging consumables.

Vertical Form Fill & Seal Machine

Vertical Form Fill & Seal Machine(vffs) a very classic packaging machine. It uses a Rollstock for vertical filling and sealing. Watch the video we shot below to understand its working principle more intuitively:

The packaging ranges of Premade Pouch Packing Machine and Form Fill Seal Machine are very similar. Many people will hesitate in these two machines. You can read Premade Pouch Packing Machine VS Form Fill Seal Machine, Which one should you choose? to understand the difference In order to better choose the machine you need.

Horizontal Form Fill & Seal Machine

Horizontal Form Fill & Seal Machine(hffs) was born almost at the beginning of automated packaging. It is similar to VFFS. It uses Rollstock for filling and sealing, except that it is horizontal. Except that its double jaw mode, the packaging speed of HFFS is very fast. Its disadvantage is that it can only pack certain large pieces of individual materials, such as bread and whole pieces of meat. The following video shows the process of packaging bread:

Vacuum Packaging Machine

Vacuum packaging can greatly improve the shelf life of the product. If you have requirements in this regard, then the vacuum packaging machine is your best choice. Similar to this is Modified Atmosphere Packaging (MAP), about MAP packaging you can read our article Modified Atmosphere Packaging Definition & Application. There are many types of vacuum packaging machines: automatic, semi-automatic, premade pouch, and Rollstock etc. However, there are very few automatic premade pouch vacuum packaging machines on the market. We are in our rotary premade bag packaging machine improved on the basis, designed a fully automatic vacuum rotary premade bag packaging machine, it’s works like this:

Although it is slightly more expensive than other machines on the market, it is definitely worth the price.

The above are our four types of automatic food packaging machines. Which one are still hesitant to buy? Any other questions? Contact us immediately!