Oral liquid filling machines deliver high-precision metering and efficient filling capabilities.And it also can flexibly handle diverse oral liquid and containers. They can significantly decrease your costs while providing good quality.
Whether you wonder about the working principles of oral liquid filling machines or are looking for a suitable machine for your oral liquid products, this article will provide a comprehensive guide based on real production.
Why We Need Oral Liquid Filling Machines
1.1 Stable Producting
The machine airframe and contact components are widely made from stainless steel, showing wear and corrosion resistance. And this can maintain stable performance during long-term and high-frequency operation as well as prevents your equipment downtime caused by aging.
1.2 Strong Flexibility
The filling machine can address oral liquid formulations of different viscosities and flow properties.It also supports filling into containers of multiple materials and specifications to respond to diverse production demands at the same time.
1.3 High Efficiency
The equipment reaches continuous automated operation.It is able to complete thousands or even tens of thousands of bottles per hour, far exceeding the manual production efficiency.
1.4 High Consistency
Thanks to being equipped with a high-precision metering system, the oral liquid filling machine maintains consistent dosing of your product in every production batch. And it can effectively prevent underfilling or overfilling issues to guarantee stable product quality.
1.5 Cleanliness and Hygiene
All contact parts are made of medical-grade stainless steel. In addition, some models support Sterilization in Place(SIP) and Cleaning-in-Place(CIP) systems, which make your machine easy to radically clean and disinfect.
1.6 Waste Reduction
The system prevents filling without bottles, avoiding waste from empty fills. It also offers an optional anti-drip device to effectively prevent raw material loss and contamination caused by liquid dripping, delivering significant long-term cost savings.
1.7 Simple Operation
The oral liquid filling machine uses an HMI interface and PLC control panel, displaying real-time production data and equipment status.Just with a basic training, they can operate the machine.
Working Principle of Oral Liquid Filling Machines
2.1 Machine Preparation
Calibrate the equipment’s metering system before operation, it can prevent filling inaccuracies caused by cumulative errors.
If you fill aseptic oral liquid, please thoroughly sterilize all equipment contact parts.
And Set critical parameters such as metering accuracy thresholds, filling speed, and filling time according to production requirements.
2.2 Material Preparation
Transfer the material to be filled into the equipment hopper, making sure a continuous and stable supply.
2.3 Container Positioning
The conveying system precisely transports empty containers to the position beneath the filling head.
2.4 Filling
The equipment fills the containers to the preset volume. However, different filling equipment has distinct filling principles. Common types include piston-type, peristaltic pump-type, gravity-fed, and volumetric.
2.4.1 Piston-Type Filling
It controls filling volume by regulating piston stroke. A preset amount of oral liquid is drawn into the piston cylinder by negative pressure, then pushed into the container.
2.4.2 Peristaltic Pump Filling
This creates negative pressure by squeezing tubing with pump wheels, propelling oral liquid to the filling nozzle.
2.4.3 Gravity-Fed Filling
It uses material’s own gravity as a power source and controls the filling by the liquid level sensor.
2.4.4 Volumetric Filling
Flow sensors monitor material volume in real time.When it reaches the preset value, the filling nozzle valve closes to complete the filling process.
2.5 Sealing
The filled containers are delivered via a conveyor belt to the next workstation and then sealed.
The Components of An Oral Liquid Filling Machine
3.1 Hopper
It is made from pharmaceutical-grade stainless steel, offering stable chemical properties to prevent material interaction with the hopper.
The hopper can be equipped with accessories such as dust covers, agitation systems, heaters, and liquid level sensors.
If you want to fill oral suspension, the hopper can be paired with an agitation system to maintain uniform material distribution.
For temperature-sensitive oral liquids, you can choose the hopper with a temperature control system with heating and insulation capabilities.
3.2 Conveying System
Piping is usually made of 316L stainless steel material with a dead-zone-free internal design for easy cleaning and sterilization.
Its diameters can be flexibly customized according to actual production capacity requirements to keep efficient and stable conveying processes.
3.3 Pump
The pump serves as the power source for filling.You can select an appropriate pump based on the properties of the oral liquid, including peristaltic pumps, piston pumps, gear pumps, and others.
3.4 Filling Nozzles
Filling nozzles can be equipped with anti-drip suction devices to prevent material residue or dripping.
Production capacity requirements determining the number of filling nozzles to be installed.And
every nozzle is independently controlled to achieve synchronized and high-precision filling.
Some filling nozzles support height adjustment to realize better adaptation to containers of varying specifications. And this filling method close to the liquid surface effectively minimizes bubble formation, avoiding any impact on filling accuracy.
3.5 Control Panel
It typically consists of a touchscreen and operation buttons. Staff can directly set filling parameters and monitor equipment status in real time, making the operation intuitive and convenient.
3.6 Electrical Cabinet
Electrical cabinet components including wiring, fuses, switches, and variable frequency drives.
It takes a waterproof and dustproof design to prevent ingress of dust and moisture, safeguarding electrical components.
If your filling liquid is flammable like ethanol, the equipment needs to be paired with explosion-proof electrical cabinets to enhance production safety.
Types of Oral Liquid Filling Machines
4.1By The Level of Automation
4.1.1 Fully Automatic Oral Liquid Filling Machine
Fully automatic filling machines can automatically complete the entire process of container positioning, filling, and capping without manual intervention. They can deliver extremely high filling efficiency for you and are particularly suitable for large-scale continuous production.
4.1.2 Semi-Automatic Oral Liquid Filling Machines
Semi-automatic filling machines need operators to complete tasks like container placement and loading/unloading, and the equipment automatically performs positioning and filling. These machines only require lower costs than fully automatic models and are better suited for small to medium-scale production.
4.1.3 Manual Oral Liquid Filling Machine
The filling process needs manual assistance for metering and operation, typically requiring 1 to 2 operators. But it shows a compact structure and small footprint, suitable for laboratories or small-batch production.
4.3 By The Filling Principle
4.3.1 Peristaltic Pump Oral Liquid Filling Machine
The pump does not directly contact the oral liquid, it relies on squeezing the hose to achieve delivery. You can select it as filling equipment for highly corrosive or easily contaminated liquids. Its structure is simple, but It should be noted that the hose should be replaced regularly.
4.3.2 Piston Oral Liquid Filling Machine
Piston filling machines have high filling precision, handle high-viscosity oral liquids, and accommodate multiple container sizes. However, it involves more cleaning components and carries relatively higher equipment costs.
4.3.3 Gravity Oral Liquid Filling Machine
Gravity filling machines depend on the liquid’s own weight for filling, only suitable to fill low-viscosity oral liquids with good flowability. Its simple structure and no power system just need low equipment costs.
4.3.4 Volumetric Oral Liquid Filling Machine
The volumetric filling machine uses a high-precision volumetric flow measurement system to strictly control filling accuracy, ensuring product consistency. However, this comes with a correspondingly higher cost. It is suitable for oral liquid production with stringent volume requirements.
4.3.5 Aseptic Oral Liquid Filling Machine
Aseptic filling machine is specifically designed for sterile oral liquids such as vaccines and biological preparations. All contact parts should undergo sterilization treatment. And this machine is always equipped with CIP and SIP systems to meet the requirements of your aseptic production processes. Due to its higher cost, it is generally reserved for filling sterile oral liquids.
Common Oral Liquid Filling Containers
5.1 Plastic Bottles
Plastic bottles deliver low cost and high moldability, typically made from materials like PP, PET, or HDPE.
Custom plastic containers for oral liquids can be tailored to your needs in various capacities and shapes.
5.2 Glass Bottles
Glass offers excellent chemical stability and barrier properties, withstanding high-temperature sterilization to effectively preserve oral liquid quality. Brown glass bottles can prevent light exposure from affecting the quality of oral liquids, so they are suitable for oral liquids containing photosensitive ingredients.
5.3 Ampoules
Ampoules show superior sealing performance, usually used for packaging small-dose single-use oral liquids to effectively avoid secondary contamination.
Considerations Of Selecting an Oral Liquid Filling Machine?
6.1 Material Properties
The equipment must be compatible with the characteristics of the material being filled. You should pay attention to the flow properties of oral liquid (high or low viscosity), whether it is acidic, alkaline, or highly corrosive, and whether it contains photosensitive components requiring light-protected storage.
If it is sterile oral liquids, a sterile filling machine is your only choice.
6.2 Container Specifications
It is necessary to first determine whether the containers used in production are of a single specification or multiple specifications. If there are multiple container types, it is essential to select a machine model that can be flexibly adjusted to accommodate different bottle shapes.
6.3 Production Capacity Requirements
Capacity varies significantly between models.You need to choose based on actual output and production scale. For example, fully automatic filling machines are better suited to meet your large-scale production needs.
6.4 Auxiliary Functions
You also should consider whether the equipment features quick-disassembly structures, integrates with other production machinery or existing lines, or supports future capacity upgrades.
6.5 Supplier Capabilities
In addition, the supplier’s capabilities are also crucial. It is essential to consider whether the supplier can provide services such as pre-sales consultation, solution design, equipment customization, installation and commissioning, and after-sales maintenance.
Furthermore, whether they possess extensive industry case studies and quality certifications are also key factors to consider.
Conclusion
Oral liquid filling machines can easily handle diverse material properties, container specifications, and production capacity requirements, producing high-precision and high-efficiency. They are essential equipment for pharmaceutical and health supplement enterprises seeking both efficiency and quality. When selecting equipment, please consider filling principles, automation levels, functional capabilities, and the supplier’s comprehensive service capacity to ensure long-term stable production benefits. If you have any questions regarding oral liquid filling machine selection, please feel free to contact us at any time.
