Weighing-/packaging-line for tomatoes in punnets
Delivery: September 2015
Product: Tomatoes
Portion sizes: 4 tomatoes in each punnet, 350 g
Capacity: 40-50 punnets/min
Packaging: punnets in various sizes
Machines included:
Infeed elevator, multihead weigher, model
h3009LD
, punnet machine, model
NBM-2S
for several punnet sizes, Portion Collecting System (PCS) constructed with two individual conveyor belts.
Challenge
Weighing and packaging of tomatoes in punnets is a classic Newtec project to undertake. What was special about this customer request was that the customer wanted a fixed amount of tomatoes and a fixed weight of 350 g in each punnet.
Furthermore, they wanted to be able to operate with several punnet types with various sizes.
Apart from finding the right weighing combination of four tomatoes, another challenge was to settle the tomatoes in the punnets as nicely as possible.
Solution
To perform, we chose our multihead weigher, model h3009LD as it is particularly suitable for fragile products (tomatoes, plums, nectarines, clementines, peaches, kiwi fruits, etc.). Furthermore, the weigher has nine small weigh heads with double opening which ensures high speed and low drop height.
To meet the requests of our customer, the multihead weigher was equipped with photo cells for counting the tomatoes and a reject system for the few portions that did not meet the requirements.
To ensure an even and gentle infeed to the multihead weigher, Newtec delivered a specially designed infeed conveyor, which conveys the products through a gentle brush system. The belts are mounted with a bubble surface for gentle handling.
When the portions are released from the weigh heads, they are collected on the two conveyors which gently convey the portions to the Newtec punnet machine, model NBM-2S.
The punnets are automatically unstacked and placed on the punnet conveyor, which conveys them to the filling station. The tomatoes are only exposed to low drops and a gentle shaking system takes care of settling the tomatoes in the punnets. Side guards and flights make sure that the tomatoes stay in the punnets.
When the punnets are filled, they are pushed to a conveyor where they are manually styled before they are conveyed to the flow wrapper.
The solution is tailor-made in terms of punnet specifications. Therefore, Newtec always insists on seeing and testing the final punnets in order to design the optimal solution.
Our solution has successfully been in operation since September 2015.
