22 BULKDISTRIBUTOR
FIBCs & Bagging
May/June 2016
Feeding the cattle
T
BMA Europe recently completed a double big-bag filling
plant for a manufacturer of high quality feed for cattle.
The installation fills up to 30 big bags per hour, and can be
operated by one person. Two filling lines were chosen to prevent
product contamination.
The product is fed to the TBMA big-bag filling machines from
storage hoppers by horizontal screw conveyors. The rotational speed
of the conveyors can be adjusted to provide accurate dosing during
the weighing cycle. Both big bag fillers are equipped with a fixed
position filling head, a weighing system and a vibrating table, which
is mounted on a lifting platform.
Due to the fixed position of the filling head and the stepless lifting
and lowering device, all operator actions are performed at an
ergonomic working height by the operator. The two rear big-bag
supports are mounted on linear cylinders which allow them to
traverse to the front of the machine to facilitate suspension of the
bag loops.
The big-bag filling spout can easily be pulled up over the filling
head to ensure a dust-free connection. An integrated fan blows the
folded big-bag into shape. The operator is able to use the control
panel to select the desired process outcome for the upcoming big
bags. Next, with only the push of a button, the filling process is
started.
Filling and weighing
During the filling process, the conical vibrating table is raised to
support the big-bag. The vibrations ensure that the product is
vented, compressed and that the corners of the big-bag are filled.
The vibrating table can be activated multiple times per filling cycle
dependent on the filling r ate. The suspended big-bags are weighed
during the filling cycle. The combination of vibration and suspension
allows the bags to stretch (big-bags stretch approximately 3-5
percent), which provides a stable and vertical FIBC. The suspended
The big-bag filling spout can easily be pulled up over the filling head to ensure a dust-free
connection
weighing principle is also less susceptible to the influence of external
factors.
During the filling cycle, a pallet is automatically transferred from
the pallet dispenser. A shuttle conveyor transports the empty pallet
underneath the big bag and lifts it until the suspension loops are
slack. At that moment the filling spout seal is deflated and the loops
are automatically released. The operator ties of the filling spout, and
confirms via the control panel that the big-bag is ready for transport.
The lift-table then descends to the connecting roller conveyors and
the shuttle is driven out of the filling machine. During this operation
the operator hangs a new big-bag on the filling machine hooks and
starts a new filling cycle. The filled big-bag and its pallet are
transferred from the shuttle conveyor to the last available position
on the accumulation conveyors. By this method of operation time
losses are minimised, which allows each filling line to produce 15 big
bags of 1,000kg an hour.
www.tbma.com
The TBMA installation fills up to 30 big bags per hour and can be operated by one person
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