Multilane Applications: 18 Lanes in One Direction?
Unthinkable in road traffic, possible with the Multitrack Controller (MTC) from Wipotec.
Today, multilane weighing systems can be put together by the customer himself. Modular multilane systems from Wipotec Weighing Technology are the prime example of how important it is to know exactly what the customers’ ideas and expectations are.
The EMFR Weigh Cells specially developed for multilane applications, together with their scalable integration modules, precisely meet the requirements that machine manufacturers place on high-performance weighing technology.
However, it is not just the weighing technology and its intelligent assistance systems, which are convincing more and more machine manufacturers worldwide to use weigh cells from Wipotec.
The specialists from Kaiserslautern support customers in the selection and use of OEM weighing technology already in the run-uppreliminary stages, during design and construction - also directly on site, if needed. With great success: Wipotec Weighing Technology is now the global market leader in the integration of EMFR Weigh Cells and Weighing Kits
Weighing in Harmony With the Machine Cycle
What at first glance reads rather leisurely, almost dreamy, is a real winner on closer inspection. Dynamic weighing in industrial environments is one of the greatest challenges in weighing technology, and the differences to precision weighing under laboratory conditions could not be greater.
Wipotec Weighing Technology has relied on EMFR-based weighing technology from the very beginning and almost 30 years ago helped Weigh Cells equipped with this superior technology achieve a breakthrough in many industrial applications.
The basic principle is comparable to a simple balance scale. If a weight is applied to one side of the beam, the coil attached to the other side of the beam will want to move out of the magnetic field, but cannot, because an electrical control circuit immediately sends so much current through the coil that the beam virtually remains in its rest position.
The resulting deflection is only a few nanometers, quite in contrast to measuring methods that are subject to displacement, e.g. with strain gauges.
In addition, a monolithic block of aluminum was developed as the basis of every Wipotec Weigh Cell. Only this design principle in combination with EMFR-based weighing technology allows and enables an extremely short settling time and thus short measuring times. Compared to the weighing principle with strain gauges, EMFR Weigh Cells deliver very precise weight values much faster, which gives them great advantages, especially in the field of dynamic applications. In addition, EMFR Weigh Cells have no wear parts and therefore operate absolutely maintenance and wear-free.
AVC: Most Precise Measured Results Even in Non-Vibration-Free Environments
In the past, in many cases, weighing technology had to be separated from the production machine (often filling and packaging machines) in terms of design and mass - the weighing system required its own balance foot, detached and decoupled from the surrounding machine technology. The effects of vibrations and jolting by the production machine were too great.
The large number of filling and handling systems moving in machine cycles, which generate vibrations due to their moving masses, influences weighing measurements in the production of syringes and vials, for example. The vibrations are aggravated by the fact that the individual rest phases between measurements are very short and the cycle speeds very high.
The situation changed fundamentally when Wipotec introduced AVC, the Active Vibration Compensation technology developed exclusively for its own EMFR Weigh Cells. This allows the most precise measurement results without compromising speed, throughput and accuracy, even in non-vibration-free environments.
The innovative compensation system - still a unique feature of Wipotec Weighing Technology - enables machine manufacturers to do without a separate scale base, which simplifies the design and considerably reduces costs.
The manufacturer need only ensure by design that the AVC module is mounted near and on the same machine plate as the Weigh Cells whose machine-related vibrations are to be compensated.
With today's high cycle speeds or product throughputs, AVC is indispensable if a separate scale foot is to be omitted - crucial for all machine builders. In these and all other questions, the customer is not alone in his decisions and technical options: Internationally, Wipotec has teams ready to support manufacturers on site with guidance on the selection, use and integration of OEM weighing technology in production machines.
Multitrack and Multilane: The Best of Both Worlds
Tailor-made or modularized - Wipotec Weighing Technology today offers machine manufacturers the best solution from both approaches. Machine manufacturers have always been able to order their Multitrack Controller (MTC), i.e. a scale block with several sensors in a special housing, from Wipotec in accordance with the customer's individual requirements; the customer specified the number of tracks and track center distance as well as the weighing range and received his customized weighing system, optionally with or without AVC. In this way, up to 18-track MTC Weigh Cells were created for all customers who relied on the superior EMFR technology
Now, there is an alternative to MTC: More and more machine manufacturers are integrating a new OEM weighing system from Wipotec into their machines, called Modular Multilane System (MMS). This is a family of AVC-compatible Weigh Cells that allow track center distances down to 30 millimeters (SL-M series) or 25 millimeters (SX M series).
In contrast to the customer-specific MTC system, MMS is an off-the-shelf solution consisting of series-produced and multilane capable EMFR Weigh Cells which the customer orders in the quantity he requires in order to put together his multilane weighing system himself.
An MMS solution including an optimized AVC system can be used in those environments where vibration would limit the weighing results or product throughput without AVC. Modular means that the customer can configure the number of lanes and track center distance.
Another major advantage is that the customer can replace individual Weigh Cells and sensors without having to replace the entire weighing technology. The Multitrack Weigh Cell MTC is still the system of choice when it comes to special solutions or customer-specific systems with very small track center distances below 25 millimeters.
Dem Trend voraus
If you look at today's main areas of application and their production landscapes in weighing technology for multilane applications, trends are clearly recognizable. Increasingly, contract fillers appear on the scene, whose demand is to be able to quickly execute an increasing number of production orders. The keyword here is flexibility even for smaller batches - one of the proven strengths of the Wipotec product portfolio. The variety of products on the customer side continues to increase.
In the pharmaceutical sector, for example, syringes or vials have to be produced at ever higher cycle rates and weighed with extreme accuracy. The same applies to stickpacks, tear-open packaging for drugs in powder form.
Incidentally, WIPOTEC-OCS, another subsidiary within the Wipotec Group and known for process and customer-oriented weighing and inspection solutions, also uses the basic solutions developed by Wipotec Weighing Technology
Wipotec offers a very successful pharmaceutical checkweigher with push-over system for stickpacks. Another field of application for the high-performance weighing technology from Kaiserslautern is tea or coffee capsule machines; the tasks are similar:
Again, lightweight products must be weighed precisely at the highest cycle speeds. This type of coffee or tea consumption, originally designed for single people, has now established itself worldwide. Just like the weighing technology from Kaiserslautern.