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P
eppers, chillies and olives are
classic Mediterranean antipasti.
Many consumers are familiar with
Mediterranean cuisine and
therefore expect high standards from
these delicacies – they must be fresh,
tasty and a feast for the eyes. To meet the
demands of their customers, food
producers must work quickly and
hygienically. Thanks to a new antipasti
multi-filling machine from Karb
Maschinenbau GmbH, which according to
the manufacturer, is the only one of its
kind. Production is now more than 3.5
times faster. Festo components are used
to ensure smooth movements at process
and production level.
14,500 items per hour
Despite so many work steps in industrial
food production being automated, the
filling of vegetables is still done by hand.
Trained employees can produce up to
1,000 items per hour, but it is a tedious
process, and the manual aspect means it
requires high standards of hygiene. Each
item must be picked up by hand and then
filled with cream cheese. Thanks to the
new automatic antipasti multi-filling
machine from Karb, this job is now much
easier and, above all, faster. Employees
simply need to place the vegetables on the
filling nozzles. The machine does the rest
– producing up to 14,500 items per hour.
Although the system is currently being
used to fill pointed peppers, it can be used
to process all kinds of vegetables. The only
requirement is that the vegetables have a
cavity for the filling.
Automatic filling and cleaning
Sophisticated, highly sensitive sensor
technology – details of which Karb
Maschinenbau is keeping under wraps for
product protection reasons – ensures that
the correct amount of filling is dispensed.
The sensors automatically detect when
the pepper is full and report it to the
machine controller within a fraction of a
second. The machine controller then sends
the stop signal to the Festo cylinder EPCO,
which is responsible for the filling process.
Because hygiene is as important as speed
in the food industry, the system has an
automatic cleaning program. A solution of
water and cleaning agent instead of cream
cheese is flushed through the pipes to
clean them.
Issue 30
trends in automation
Synergies
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