Buffering concept for  containers – an alternative to BLOC-synchronisation

The smoothly synergised interaction of the machines in a line is optimised by incorporating a buffering concept for the containers being handled. Thanks to storage elements for the bottles or cans in a line, interruptions during operation (e.g. for a label change) can be compensated for and the line’s performance improved. These systems not only guarantee maximised efficiency in new lines being designed, they can also be retrofitted, so that existing lines, too, can achieve significantly enhanced efficiency levels.

The buffering concept can be used for all container types, and comes in two different variants:

• Accuflow – the multi-track conveyor. The buffering concept here is based on the differing speeds of the conveyors involved. If there is a standstill at the machine downstream of the buffer, the arriving containers are pulled into the buffering area by the slower-moving tracks at the side. The reverse concept then ensures in normal operation that the buffer is slowly emptied again.
• Accutable – the dynamic buffer table with a conveyor carriage. For buffering the containers, the conveyor carriage pulls the bottles into the buffer table in a quantity corresponding to the buffering time required. Once normal operation has been resumed, the bottles are transferred in the same sequence from the buffering unit back into the mainstream flow, right in line with the FIFO principle.

Both buffering concepts are suitable for all types of container, and can also be retrofitted to existing lines in order to upgrade their efficiency.