A filling machine is an industrial device that measures a set amount of products at a certain point in time, followed by packing it into individual packages (pouches, sachets, bottles, cups, jars, sticks, and others). Packaging machines can operate both in automatic and semi-automatic modes, depending on the design. Some models of filling equipment can produce containers of different shapes from different types of raw materials.
In the modern world, filling and packaging equipment is used in almost all food & non-food production. This is required by the trends of the current market. The modern world is the world of individually packaged products, and even packaging has its packaging.
Classification of filling and packaging equipment
There is no way to create a clear classification of filling and packaging equipment in the current realities. This situation is explained by a wide variety of technologies used, technical processes, packaging materials, as well as products to be filled & packed. Different types of products require different types of filling & packaging systems.
Upon closer examination of the packaging equipment, one can single out such processes that are used in almost every system: product dosing & feeding, preparation of packaging material, and the stage of final product packaging. Moreover, different types of packaging and filling systems can be combined. For example, the most common weigher for granular products can be used to fill products both in rigid containers and in plastic or paper pouches. In each case, a different set of filling machines with different sets of functions will be used.
The main criterion in the classification of packaging equipment is the type of product to be packed. According to this criterion, filling and packaging equipment is divided into food and non-food types. This division of equipment is caused due to the high requirements for the product contact materials to be used in the food industry.
Packaging equipment is also classified by the filling system type to be used. The most common filling systems are:
- Multihead weigh filler (used for dry and semi-dry granular products)
- Linear weigh filler (used for dry granular products)
- Auger filler (used for fine powders)
- Volumetric cup filler (used for dry granular products)
- Volumetric piston filler (used for viscous products)
- Gravity filler (used for liquid products)
