Packaging foods in glass
Practical Action
Solids fillers
There are few paste filling machines that are cheap enough
for small-scale processors but an example of one type (a
piston filler) is shown in Figure 4. Most producers fill by
hand and although this is slow it can be speeded up by the
use of a simple funnel and rod (Figure 5).
In the case of solids such as fruit that is packed in syrup, the
solid pieces are first placed in the jar by hand and the liquid
is then filled using a liquids filler.
Liquids fillers
The simplest method is to fill containers from a jug that is
Figure 4: A piston filler
calibrated for the correct volume. A funnel can be used to
assist filling narrow necked bottles. A simple frame to tilt jars so
that the correct filling level is achieved is shown in Figure 6, this
will also speed up the filling operation.
At a larger scale of production, a filler can be made by fixing taps
into a 50 litre stainless steel bucket (Figure 7). Food grade
plastic is acceptable for cold filling.
However, these methods are relatively slow and therefore only
suitable for small production rates (eg up to 1000 packs per
day). They also give some variation in the filled volume, even with
careful training of
the operators.
Figure 5: Funnel and rod
At higher production rates a piston filler gives a
uniform fill-volume and can be adjusted to fill
different containers from 25-800 ml. Typical
outputs are 15-30 packs per minute.
Figure 6: Simple frame and jar
filling
A different approach is to use a vacuum filler.
These are available commercially but can also be
made locally. The principle of operation is shown
in Figure 8. A venturi pump, obtained from a
laboratory supplier, is attached to a water tap to
create the vacuum. This then sucks liquid from
a product tank into the bottle until it fills to a
pre-set level.
Figure 7: Bucket with tap
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Figure 8: Vacuum filler