1. Company
2. Media
3. Press articles
4. Press Releases

11/08/2016

New KHS Innofill Glass DRS filler boosts hygiene and efficiency

KHS GmbH expands its proven Innofill Glass DRS filler. The flexible inline machine for up to 75,000 bottles per hour provides very hygienic filling with low CO2 and product consumption.

• Flexible filling system in the high capacity range
• Additional diagnostics option for quality assurance
• Optimized high-pressure injection results in less beverage loss

Dortmund, November 8, 2016 – KHS GmbH expands its proven Innofill Glass DRS filler. The flexible inline machine for up to 75,000 bottles per hour provides very hygienic filling with low CO2 and product consumption. At BrauBeviale KHS is presenting a filler which with 132 filling stations will output up to 50,000 bottles of beer per hour for Badische Staatsbrauerei Rothaus AG. This is the second machine KHS has supplied to Rothaus. KHS has improved the popular filler by including many new features and options, such as the new pressure sensor or optimized high-pressure injection. "The KHS Innofill DRS is the first machine to use pressure sensors in every single filling valve to ensure full monitoring of the filling process," says Manfred Härtel, filling product manager at KHS. The sensor data is displayed as a pressure graph on the monitor. "This gives operators the chance to detect errors as quickly as possible," states Härtel. In practice this not only makes repairs easier and relieves operator workloads but also provides a basis for preventive maintenance. This data enables results to be statistically evaluated, with the help of which future sources of error can be pinpointed in advance. This in turn ensures consistent quality and the continuation of ongoing operation.

High-pressure injection optimized

In order to minimize the beer's oxygen pickup, in modern filling systems air is forced out of the bottle prior to closure by a jet of water being briefly injected to foam the beer. This foam displaces the oxygen in the bottle but also causes beer loss. Thanks to foam measurement via a camera and thanks to the central fill level adjustment unit the Innofill Glass DRS now reliably permits extremely precise filling volumes, thus minimizing beverage loss during this process. The operator no longer has to visually monitor the proceedings as the camera on the crowner checks and records the foam formation. Here, too, the data collected is statistically assessed. Operators are informed by the system if there is either too much or too little foam and badly foamed bottles are automatically channeled out. An intelligent post-regulation unit is also available as an option. Optimized high-pressure injection can be retrofitted – not just on all KHS systems but also on fillers made by third-party manufacturers.

Cleaning and filling optimized

Another new feature on the KHS Innofill Glass DRS is the hygienically optimized crowner which is now even easier and quicker to clean. For instance, the contact area on the head piece to the capping ring has been considerably reduced. This allows more forceful rinsing and reduces the amount of residual beer on the components. In order to decrease the contact area between the cork shoe and head piece, KHS has enlarged the distance between the two. In addition, a special sealing ring prevents beer entering the thread of the crowner.

Improvements right down the line

The shorter conversion times enabled by the new quick-lock system for format parts allow a considerable amount of time to be saved, resulting in higher machine availability. A new valve manifold also makes a separate control cabinet superfluous. All process valves and the entire sensor technology are now perfectly monitored. The operator can directly recognize the status of the process valves through local status indicators. Systems supplier KHS has improved hygiene in the surrounding area by doing away with active grease distribution in the filler carousel. The machine is now height adjusted without lubricants; grease distribution is thus no longer required. The redesigned media distributor means that the media storage and lubricant-free process seals in the media feed are physically separated from one another. As a systems provider KHS has at its command a wealth of expertise that goes far beyond optimized filling processes. For example, the manufacturer of filling and packaging systems provides brilliant results prior to filling with the Innoclean bottle washer; downstream of the filler the module-based Innoket Neo system solution flexibly masters all kinds of labeling tasks. The Innofill Glass DRS is just one of many machines KHS has at its disposal for the competent and sustainable installation of turnkey glass, canning or PET lines.

About the KHS Group

The KHS Group is one of the leading manufacturers of filling and packaging systems for the beverage, food and non-food industries. The KHS Group includes the following companies, among others: KHS GmbH, KHS Corpoplast GmbH, KHS Plasmax GmbH and NMP Systems GmbH. KHS GmbH manufactures modern filling and packaging systems at its headquarters in Dortmund, Germany, and in Kleve, Bad Kreuznach and Worms. The KHS Group's PET expertise is pooled at KHS Corpoplast and KHS Plasmax in Hamburg, Germany, where light PET packaging and innovative coating systems are developed and produced. NMP Systems GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of KHS GmbH based in Düsseldorf in Germany, designs and markets new, resource-saving packaging systems for PET bottles. The Group has an international production and service network. In 2015 KHS was awarded the Top 100 seal of approval for exceptional innovative power and outstanding innovative success among German SMEs. In 2015 the KHS Group and its 4,871 employees achieved a turnover of around €1.17 billion within the Salzgitter consolidation. The companies in the KHS Group are 100% subsidiaries of the MDAX-listed Salzgitter AG corporation.