The Problem...
SunSweet Growers, a north California bottler, was
thrilled as its number one client hit soft drink pay dirt with line
after line of specialty beverages. SunSweet installed a state of the
art bottling room in its Yuba City California plant, that would fill
over 750 bottles per minute!
The problem was that the bottle caps came into
the plant in cardboard boxes. These had to be manhandled into the
bottling room, lifted up three steps of a ladder and dumped into
the capper orienter hopper. This posed production problems and potential
employee safety problems from constant lifting of boxes.
Power unit and controls are located in self-contained
module. Lexan sidewalls protect the operating components from the
plant environment.
SunSweet knew changes had to be made. It was simple arithmetic.
With the line running 750 bottles per minute and the orienter hopper
only able to hold 3,100 caps at a time, the manual refill operation
had to happen every three minutes! This was a full time job for
one person and clearly exhausting after a ten hour day.
Additionally, if the line would run out of caps, it
would automatically shut down. Any bottles left on the line had
to be dumped and then re-sanitized before being used, a loss of
product and efficiency.
Caps are discharged from hopper
and metered into conveying line.
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The Solution...
SunSweet established the parameters for a suitable storage and conveying
system for caps. It should permit easy loading of cartons of caps,
storage of at least a 30 minute supply, and automatic delivery of
caps on demand from a level control in the capper hopper. It must
be clean, protect the caps from a hostile plant environment, and
be easily cleaned. Stainless steel was specified for product contact
but would be desirable for all parts due to the wet environment
of the plant.
SunSweet then called upon VAC-U-MAX to design a system to meet the specifications.
SunSweet was aware that VAC-U-MAX had extensive experience pneumatically handling
all types of closures and objects.
Caps are discharged from receiver above, into
capper hopper for orientation and washing. VAC-U-MAX designed a system which met
the specifications with ease. The power unit and controls are located
in one self-contained module with the cap supply hopper. Occupying
a space of only five cubic feet, the module is built into a stainless
steel framework. A stainless steel cover protects caps in the storage
hopper from moisture and foreign material.
Lexan sidewalk protect the operating
components from the plant environment but permit observation of
the operation.
Located outside the bottling room, the system
meters caps into the conveying line. The caps are then transported
by air, approximately 17 feet vertically and 35 feet horizontally,
to a receiver located over the capper, where they disengage
from the air and fall into the capper hopper. A single level
control in the capper controls the VAC-U-MAX system. Conveying
starts when the level control signals low level and continues
for an adjustable time after the level control is covered.
An operator can refill the storage hopper with eleven boxes
of caps every half hour and stay comfortably ahead of demand.
Today, SunSweet Growers has a fully
automated production line, able to keep up with any demand.
"The new VAC-U-MAX conveyor is much more than a convenience,"
said Ken Hensley, Operations Maintenance Manager at SunSweet.
"It is a fail-safe way to ensure continuous production."
"We have improved costs by reducing down time and product
loss."
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