GEA launches new big bag fillers

OUTPERFORMING other products in its category, GEA’s new Big Bag fillers for infant formulae, milk, and food powder can fill up to ten bags an hour with a single operator. Its unique technology results in stable, easy-to-handle filled bags, which in turn lowers the risks of accidental damage or spillage.

The compact BBS-S single station/single carriage machine can fill as many eight big bags per hour, more than the capacity of other machines in the market. It has no heat sealing of the inner plastic liner to suit applications that do not require MAP. 

The double station machine BBS-D comes with either a single or a double carriage. MAP and heat sealing are optional, with the latter located at a separate station to reduce clutter in the filling area and make it easier to clean. This also removes any ATEX risk from sealing in the dusty zone. The machine can work on two bags at the same time and has the capacity to fill up to ten bags an hour. The number of bags increases if heat sealing is not necessary. 

Unlike most ordinary big bag fillers that support the bags on the base plate during filling then slide them onto the pallet for storage and distribution, the GEA BBS-S and BBS-D systems fill, vibrate, and weigh the bags as they hang within the high-care filling area. After this, the filled bag is lowered onto the pallet in the medium-care area to ensure a more even fill, particularly into the corners of the bag. This process makes the base more secure and reduces the risk of the bag falling over during handling as well as prevents wastage and disruption resulting from such an accident. This also ensures the bag sits squarely on the pallet without an overhang that could be damaged by forklifts or impede stacking.

To ensure full hygiene conditions during production, both the BBS-S and BBS-D systems keep the pallets away from the filling area with the high-care or filling area completely separate from the medium-care or palletizing area. The machines’ easy-to-clean cantilever design uses no external structure outside the clean room. Only a single operator working from an integrated platform is needed to run the machines.