It was shown for the first time in Europe at the Pro2Pac exhibition in London this month.
Aimed at the smaller or start-up business, the ZC1 machine handles dry goods such as snacks, confectionery, pet food, granular products, biscuits and short pasta, bringing together the established PFM Zenith bagger and the new PFM C1 multi-head weigher, which is mounted on the bagger itself with no need for a supporting gantry.
“The ZCI has been developed to meet the need for an inexpensive system that nevertheless offers a high degree of flexibility and accuracy and is simple to use,” said PFM sales and operations director, Chris Bolton.
“The absence of a gantry reduces cost and machine footprint compared with a conventional system, while the compact nature of the unit also allows elevators and other support equipment to be downsized for further savings in capital and running cost,” he added. “In addition, drop height is kept short, which improves performance and provides more gentle handling for delicate goods.”
Within the software of the weigher is a new routine that cuts the time needed to replenish each weigh hopper with product, allowing the contents of more hoppers to be combined for a more accurate dose at higher speeds.
“Typically, existing low-cost, 10-head weighers can maintain maximum accuracy by using all their hoppers up to 40 weighings a minute,” said Bolton. “However, the C1 uses all 10 hoppers for maximum accuracy at speeds of 60 a minute and beyond.”
Source: PFM Packaging Machinery
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