Latest developments in IBC 150 – Tablet inspection and reject & metal detector

Konstantin Gerbold, Strategic Product Manager – Bottle & End of Line Packaging, Uhlmann Pac-Systeme GmbH & Co. KG, Germany, in his presentation, spoke about IBC 150 monoblock by Uhlmann whose speed is up to 150 bottles per minute and up to 24,000 tablets per minute. It has an integrated and intermittent rake for bottle transport – gentle handling without jamming of the bottles, no format parts and no ramp-up phase after a format changeover.

He also spoke about monoblock machine design which comprises features like bottle transport, tablet counting and feeding, tablet inspection (single tablet reject), bottle capping, bottle discharge, operating system, cleaning and resulting. “Other features also include desiccant feeding (pouches/canisters), cotton feeding, weighing, vibrating and metal detection,” he said. He added, “Tablet inspection and reject system helps in detecting wrong colour, size, chips and coating defects, and one camera per counting module ensures 100 per cent inspection reliability. Inspection length ensures the best detection results, while reject verification ensures additional double check. Moreover, with traceability, a number of good/bad inspections can be set up and evaluation of good and bad products in pieces/per cent, per counting module/feed chute also takes place. In addition, batch-related statistics on good and bad production, including error log can also be managed.”

He notified that dust on the vibrating plates causes good products to be classified as bad, but special software mode ignores dust abrasion. He also shared information about “Innovation@Monoblock” – a metal detector by Ullhmann that is used for detection of ferromagnetic metals in a bottle. “There are three metal detectors inside the monoblock having adjustable sensitivity in the detection area. For instance, if a bottle is filled with desiccant, products and cotton, it will be lowered by a servo motor; and if metal is detected, the corresponding bottle is rejected or the machine stops,” he said.

Lastly, Gerbold underlined that Uhlmann’s monoblock machine design is innovative (smallest footprint and format change), optimised (no rampup phase, no micro stops), efficient (significantly less cleaning) and integrated (all process steps in a single system with one HMI).