Maximum care in snack production

TWO metal detector systems and four XE3 CC CombiCheckers (compact combinations consisting of checkweighers and metal detectors) are used, in order to ensure the Hamburg company consistently lives up to its high standards of quality. Another CombiChecker of the same type is currently on order and will soon be put to work, too. Not only do the CombiCheckers check the product weight, but at the same time they also inspect all the products to ensure none of them contain metal foreign bodies. A special coil design inside the metal detector and the innovative system software provide extremely high detection stability. As such, even the smallest deviations from natural products can be determined thanks to the combined checkweigher and metal detector, and any products affected can be rejected as a result.

Data communication and frictionenhanced elevating conveyor

Like those already in place, the new XE3 CC CombiChecker will be installed downstream of the packaging process in an “end of line” position. During installation, it will also be important to establish a network connection between the five XE3 CCs and integrate them with one another.

METTLER TOLEDO Garvens provides a neat solution to this in the shape of GaReCo, the tried-and-tested data communication system.“During the dry fruit filling process, products can get stuck together in the multi-head checkweigher (automatic combination weigher), which then leads to the bag being un-derfilled,” explains Boie Karstens, technical and development director at Farmer’s Snack. To combat this, Garvens XE3 CC CombiChecker protects consumers and brand reputation each CombiChecker immediately ejects any product packs that fall below the specified weight from the production line and also checks the filling process. “One technical challenge was that the outfeed conveyor of the new CombiChecker is an ascending conveyor. Based on intensive research, Garvens found a special silicon conveyor belt that provided just enough grip to prevent the products on the slanting belt from sliding backwards, while still allowing bad products to be reliably rejected sideways in relation to the direction of transport.”

Checking product weight and detecting foreign bodies in a single procedure

Thanks to the dual-frequency technique of the metal detector models in place, even “aluminised” product bags can be reliably examined. Farmer’s Snack has relied on metal detectors from METTLER TOLEDO Safeline for many years and, ever since it first learned about Garvens CombiCheckers, has been using these space-saving and user-friendly combination systems too.The Garvens CombiChecker XE3 CC functions with an accuracy of 0.2g at Farmer’s Snack. It categorises the weighed products, i.e. fruit mixes, precisely into up to three weight zones.

Underweight/overweight products, as well as any packs containing tiny metal particles, are ejected using a powerful blast of air from one of the tandem air jets, adapted to the shape of the product. Thanks to the very high accuracy of both the checkweighing process and the metal detector, as well as the memory which stores up to 100 products, the CombiChecker XE3 CC is ideally suited to the company’s varied product range. Familiarity, brand reputation and sales of Farmer’s Snack are steadily on the up. “Reliable checking technology from Mettler Toledo Garvens minimises our risk as a food producer,” comments Boie Karstens. “The checkweigher in the CombiChecker checks every packet, as does the metal deadidas