Bringing glass ware from mass flow, down into single file was traditionally managed with fixed guide railing, and ‘jam breakers’. Jam breakers describes a range of different hardware solutions applied to try and overcome the locking and bridging of containers as they were being mechanically funneled from the mass group, down into a single stream. Added to the mechanical forces these jam breakers applied to the glass ware, the line pressure from the incoming containers, often only made the jam much worse, leading to containers breaking under the pressure.
Occupational Health and Safety issues were created by the breaking of the glass, and also for any operator attempting to manually relieve the pressure in these situations
Foodmach applied proven technology, developed in house, and used in the beverage and food packaging lines to take the whole problem of jam breakers and broken ware away from the lines at ACI Spotswood. In a world first for glass makers, the installation of the pressureless single filing technology has dramatically improved the reliability and performance of the ware handling systems, improving product flow and productivity, at the same time reducing risks to operators.
The pressureless single filer is a purpose engineered conveyor unit, combined with software and operating logic to ensure the ability of the single filer to handle a wide range of ware, in varying shapes and sizes, and at the variable line speeds required in production environments. Mechanical adjustment between job changes is minimal, and the first two systems have proven so successful that future lines are to be considered for upgrade to this technology as soon as practical.
