ErgoBloc L: advances

If at drinktec 2009 Krones surprised the beverage industry with ErgoBloc L, the block blow-labeller-filler, now the German manufacturer can rightfully speak of technological success and of the market: last May, in fact, the South Korean company FINE Bio ordered the hundredth example of the system.

 
Ongoing optimization
From the official launch of ErgoBloc L to today, Krones has been working to perfect it.
The transfer structure between the labeller and filler, for example, has been improved and made cutting edge. The aseptic module used so far has also been got rid of because it was considered generally not useful in daily running: in addition to being more advantageous in terms of costs, therefore, the transfer has been improved in terms of its looks.
The postcooling of the base, necessary when bottling CSDs (carbonated soft drinks) has also been changed.
The receptacle base is cooled upstream and downstream of the labeller respectively with air and water. For air cooling Krones uses a blower instead of compressed air (entailing cost savings of more than 10,000 euros per year).
To further lower costs, the labeling phase will also be changed. If so far a modular labeler was inserted between the blower and the filler, the practice has shown that, in most cases this is not necessary because the ErgoBloc L is typically used for wrap-around labeling. In future therefore the focus will be on a Contiroll aggregate.
Used throughout the world, ErgoBloc L provides yields of between 27,000 and 82,000 containers/h according to bottle and product size, and is available in versions for flat water (up to 60% of instances) and for water and soft drinks containing CO2 (approximately 40% of instances).

All in one
ErgoBloc L combines the entire wet filling line for beverages in a single solution. The block is free of conveyor belts and hence ensures a controlled process featuring flexibility, reproducibility of the settings and, consequently, great efficiency.
Compared to a traditional bloc, the system occupies 30% less surface space (with consequent energy savings) and a single operator can easily manage all the production operations. The quick-change system of blow molds of the Contiform 3 enables the speedy preparation of the bloc for processing different products. Filling and labeling run smoothly and problem-free, here too only a single operator is required. In the future ErgoBloc L will enjoy greater flexibility thanks to bottle downgauging and weight reduction.