ESS Technologies’ Model MB 25 monoblock filler/capper for vials provides a compact, high-performance system for filling and capping micro vials and small bottles. Micro vials are manually fed to the MB 25, or the filler/capper can be integrated with an automatic micro vial feeding system.
The MB 25 employs No Bottle−No Fill−No Cap sensors to prevent filling in the case of a missed micro vial. Optionally, the system can be ordered with net weigh filling that ensures precise amounts of product. In a net weigh system, the micro vial is weighed before it is filled and again after filling. The tare and gross weights are compared to preprogrammed values in the weigh cell HMI, and incorrect weights are rejected as bad fills. After the filling process, a two-stage, servo-driven capping system first picks and places a cap and applies a slight amount of pre-torque to seat it. The starwheel then indexes the micro vial to the final torque station where a preprogrammed amount of torque is applied.
ESS can integrate the vial filling and capping system with a TaskMate® robotic tray loading system. The TaskMate uses a Fanuc M-1iA robot fitted with ESS-designed end-of-arm tooling (EOAT) to create the robotic tray loading system. Custom vacuum-style EOAT picks two micro vials at a time and loads them into any standard laboratory tray. The high-speed robotic system allows both the monoblock filler/capper and the tray loader to run at the desired production speed. The complete system occupies 7 x 11 ft of space.
