F4.1 Series Filler Machine Overview

Watch Ben Fogg walk through the F4.1 filler in action. This compact, gear-driven model features an inline conveyor like our larger systems and is ideal for pilot plants or lower-volume production.

Video Transcript

Hello, welcome to Fogg. I’m Ben Fogg, and we're going to take a few minutes and go through this F4.248. The first two numbers of a Fogg Filler generally designate the number of valves in the filler, and the last digit or two digits are the number of capping heads.

This machine here runs about 200 bottles a minute, a little over 220 on small bottles, a little under 200 on larger bottles. We’re going to be able to run a one-liter here in just a few minutes. Let’s talk through some features we have here.

This machine’s built on an Allen Bradley platform, a panel view 1000, a CompactLogix on the processor, that’s ethernet connected to as much or as little of the plant as you choose. It’s got a Class 100 HEPA guarding package on here. This module you see on top, is going to produce sterile air, positively pressure this environment, and keep the product that you're filling as clean as practical.

The bottles don’t have any pre-packaged sterilization on this particular line, although we do offer it as options. When the customer wants to go into a cleaning mode, this machine is very close to touch button CIP. There’s a few components you have to take off by hand, hand sanitize, put back on, push a button, and this machine will clean itself and be ready to go again.

We’re going to be able to run some bottles here with just water, so stand by, and we’ll give it a try.

You’ll notice this machine is extremely quiet and smooth. We’re going to open the doors here. If you look inside, you’re going to see these valves are larger diameter than normal. These are a patented valve from Fogg called a triline Quick Start^® 3000.

This valve turns into a piston valve for the beginning of the fill cycle and ends as a level valve. What does that mean to you? That allows this filler to fill more viscous product than we’ve ever been able to fill before.

If you want to fill a product like a drinkable yogurt, a kefir, a laban — some sort of cultured product — this valve allows us to fill product that in the past would have been slightly too viscous to fill on a Fogg Filler. It doesn’t allow us to fill something as thick as like blue cheese, but it does allow us to extend our viscosity range somewhere near about 2,000 centipoise.