Precise metering of smallest quantities – the new MiniDos
The new system "MiniDos", for the automated, recipe-controlled metering of almost every type of powder micro ingredient
This new metering system, completely ensures a reliable reproducibility of the recipes and enables a dependable tracing of the raw materials. It is designed for the scaling of bulk materials in the food and chemical industry. In the standard design, various raw materials can be stored in a maximum of twelve plastic or stainless steel hoppers with a volume of 6 l each. After entering the recipes and starting of the system, the metering process runs automatically. For this purpose, an electrically driven platform scale positions a container, which collects the components, step by step exactly below the corresponding hopper. Once all the micro ingredients of the particular recipe have been completely metered, the container is removed and its contents are transferred to the downstream process.
The MiniDos prevents the variations in metered quantity which are inevitably found in the conventional (manual) scaling process using table mounted weigh scales. Furthermore, the system makes sure that components for the recipe are not accidentally forgotten and prevents any cross-contamination with other raw materials. Thus, it guarantees a consistent high quality of the final product. A single system can meter a wide variety of components for many different recipes without any cross-contamination. This is achieved by a simple exchange of the pre-filled hoppers and the easy programming of the system. The metering accuracy of the scaling unit is ± 0,2 g per component, the metering capacity of the system is 100 to 300 g/min depending on the number of components. The design engineers paid special attention to the ease of operation and clean- ability of the system.
The metering hoppers can be filled with the various components at a separate filling area, which is equipped with sifting and dust aspiration devices. Consequently, the inevitable dust pollution which occurs during a manual filling process is a thing of the past. The hoppers, which can also be used for intermediate storage of the raw materials, are equipped with metering devices and discharge aids. When they are positioned into the metering system they are automatically connected with the corresponding drives. Thus it is ensured that the MiniDos automatically meters the right quantity of the respective component.
In the standard design, the MiniDos has a length of 1400 mm, a width of 460 mm and a height of 1700 mm. The systems is mounted on a moveable frame which allows it to be easily reposition where required. The complete control of all drives, actuators, and sensors is integrated in the system. It can be adapted easily to different requirements and on request it can be combined with a superior control system. For example, it can optionally be connected to bar-coded hoppers and the respective scanners, enabling tracking and tracing of the raw materials.
