A client in the medical industry required a filling system that would allow vessels of varying sizes to be filled from a single source. The system was also required to weigh the vessels whilst being filled to ensure an accurate fill volume.
To design and manufacture a filling system that could accommodate a number of vessel and bag sizes. The requirement was also for a system that could accommodate specially designed trolley that were used to transport the vessels between cleanrooms.
The system was to be located in a clean room so careful consideration had to be made for the machine materials as well as the operation of the machine. The machine was also to be validated by SP Automation & Robotics.
The liquid material that was to be processed through the machine had a high value. As the machine was to be in an area where possible contamination of other products could occur as a result of a spill, special consideration had to be made for monitoring pumping sequences.
The system comprised of three main weigh scale filling positions. Two of these scales were mounted on lifting platforms. The purpose of this was to allow trolleys holding the vessels to be loaded. The trolleys were wheeled into position and docked. The operator would then initiate the system sequence. The trolleys would be lifted with vessel, and the load cell would record the tare weight. During filling, the weigh scales would provide a constant feed back to the peristaltic pump. In addition to this, a load cell “block” detection system was fitted to the fill tubes to detect bulging of the tube in the event of a blockage.
The third weigh scale from the above. This scale was fitted with rollers to allow a larger barrel vessel to be rolled onto the scales. The transport trolley was then removed to allow filling to take place.
