Food Processing - July 2008 - (Page 34) P L A N T O P E R AT I O N S In addition to weighing a single product, combination scales such as this Ishida model can blend and weigh multiple products. “More combinations usually translate into a better chance of achieving the perfect package weight,” he says, regardless of whether the design is radial or in-line. Of course, every application is unique to the food product, plant and business objectives of the company running it. Broad applications While more buckets translate to more speed, the low-end system still offers value, he says. “ ey can save processors money by packaging more accurately, minimizing their giveaway and lessening their investment into this technology.” As with throughput, the ideal size, number and shape of buckets vary with the size of pieces being packed, the fi nal package’s net weight and other factors. A machine with the same number of buckets and discharge hoppers below might bag 170 small bags of hard candy, 100 1-lb. bags of rice or 30 8-oz bags of frozen chicken nuggets per minute. Production needs also dictate the best solution. For example, radial designs are the nearly universal choice for all products. ey are adaptable for larger products because it’s easier to fit them with bigger buckets. But in some cases, users may consider a linear design. A freef lowing product like cereal may lend itself to an in-line weigher’s smaller f loor-space footprint and ease of retrofitting a cover to collect the dust that kicks up in such applications. And while vibratory infeed conveyors may be most common, a sticky product such as raw meat may require a conveyor that may be more easily installed below an inline unit. Below are some additional application considerations: • Sticky, meat and poultry: Raw, marinated or otherwise wet and sticky products such as chicken tenders and other meats, as well as some fruits and vegetables, can present some of the greatest challenges. ey can cling to vibratory conveyors, necessitating dimpled or embossed metal surfaces to minimize the surface area of product contact. Belt instead of vibratory conveyors may be used, and water sprays can keep sticky product moving. • Fragile products: You must “handle with care” products that can break, such as bakery products – think mini-muffi ns and minidoughnuts that are bagged. “For applications like these, we have Applications vary as widely as the mathematical combinations behind those buckets. Anything weighed and packaged in pieces seems to be fair game: fruits and vegetables; snack seeds, nuts and chips; candy and candy bars; cereals from bagged rice and grains; and wet, sticky meats and poultry. “And you’d be surprised at how much beef jerky sold every day comes out of our weighers,” says Anthony Delviscio, president of CombiScale Inc. (www.combiscale.com), Elk Grove Village, Ill. He notes those machines typically run 120 packages a minute using 14-head machines. While he says the price on the fi rst generation of machines may have been too high for “mom and pop” shops, the market for newer combination units has exploded with competition. Combi, for example, off ers larger units as well as an inexpensive eighthead machine for small to medium food processing lines. “In the past, there was a tremendous jump in price from a volumetric system to a combination weigher,” says Delviscio. “It could be the diff erence between a $20,000 system or one over $100,000. Now we can off er the same system for $40,000.” 34 • FOOD PROCESSING JULY 2008 PHOTO: HEAT AND CONTROL “The trend toward packing poultry to fixed weight is increasing, and poultry processors are looking for ways to stay competitive,” says Peter Goffe, Linco USA chief operating officer. The Linco Screw Feeding Multi-head Weigher is one solution. FOODPROCESSING.COM http://www.combiscale.com http://FOODPROCESSING.COM
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