Single belt sets ‘organic’ checkweigher apart - company
A spokesman from the German company told FoodProductionDaily.com that its CWP Neptune machine’s hygienic ergonomic design means it is highly suitable for weighing and sorting unpackaged perishable goods, such as minced meat, cheese, fish and salads. The company said the equipment also lowers operational costs thanks to a reduction in wear on components.
Hygienic design
Bizerba said it developed the checkweigher in response to increasing consumer demand for organic products that contain fewer preservatives. These products more susceptible to bacterial contamination during the production process which heightens the need to design machines to meet such increased hygiene requirements, said the firm.
To achieve this, the system was developed in line with the hygienic design criteria of the European Hygienic Engineering and Design Group (EHEDG) and only requires the use of one single drive belt.
“The belt is the widest part of the system,” said company director of industrial solutions Dieter Conzelmann. “Should parts of the product fall off the belt, they cannot finish up either in another part of the machinery, or back in the product stream.”
The machine is also robust enough to withstand high-pressure washdowns, which is important given the type of foods it operates with, said the spokesman.
“Because of the hygiene sensitive production process the customer has to clean the production line with appropriate cleaning method, that means water, high pressure water jet, chlorine detergent,” he added. “The machine is designed to resist these harsh cleaning methods.”
The weighing cell is tightly welded and the drive belt can also be disassembled quickly and easily.
Economical and no transition spaces
This reduction in component parts makes the operation of the system more economical for the user, said the industrial director.
“In the unpackaged foodstuffs sector our competitors offer checkweighers with single motorised conveyors, so already at the transitions from feeding belt, weighing belt and discharge belt, there can be hygiene problems,” said Conzelmann. “In these areas, parts of the foodstuff fall from the belt drive and collect in hard-to-reach parts of the system. Therefore, with the CWPNeptune, we have deliberately reduced the number of single components.”
