KHS has upgraded its Innofill Glass DRS filler with a number of new features, and its first customer, German brewer Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus AG, is already seeing the benefits.
Rothaus purchased the system to fill 500ml and 330ml bottles, which it does at up to 500,000 per hour at its 132 filling stations. KHS claims it can fill bottles hygienically with minimal product consumption and CO2 emissions.
The new Quicklock fast-acting locking system can cut conversion time for fillers with crowners by 33 per cent to just 15 to 20 minutes, according to Ludwig Clüsserath, head of filling technology development at KHS.
“Simple lever knobs not only release and lock parts, they’re also robust and can withstand broken glass or chemicals,” he said.
Bottle breakages are prevented with the Softstop flowgate, which measures container distances with a light barrier and gently decelerates bottles as they come through. The DIAS diagnostic assistance system also provides detailed logs of the filling process, and can output sensor data as a pressure graph on the monitor.
“This gives operators the chance to detect any faults as quickly as possible,” says Clüsserath.
Additionally, the camera-controlled Opticam HPI control system enables foaming to be constantly monitored and regulated, preventing beer loss through excess foam. These solutions, according to KHS, safeguard the product through the entire filling process.
