Slovakian processor invests in multihead weigher’s 20 heads to sort its potatoes

When Slovak company Liptovskà Potravinàřskà wanted to automate weighing and packing of steam-peeled potatoes, Ishida could offer an answer for both bulk and retail unit weights.

The family business has been processing peeled raw potatoes since 2007, but in 2019 invested in an autoclave system, which in turn gave rise to its retail brand of long-life, packaged product Pan Zemiak (Mr Potato). The company wanted to source a weighing and packing line that would meet demand from both retail and foodservice customers, and the decision was made to invest in a 20-head Ishida multihead weigher.

The flexibility of the CCW-RV-220WB-1D-30-WP system means the line can handle both 450g retail packs and 3kg or 5kg packs for foodservice. Top speeds on the line are 120 packs per minute (ppm) for the 450g variant and 40ppm and 20ppm respectively for the 3kg and 5kg sizes.

The 3-litre hoppers handle whole, sliced or diced potatoes. To achieve the required speeds on the larger pack sizes, the weigher is divided into four sections, with each section acting as a separate weigher targeting a lower weight. These individual totals are then combined using a customised distribution system involving a twin swing chute and dipping funnel to transfer the product into thermoformed trays.

So, for a 5kg pack, the weigher accumulates four different weighments of 1,250g, deposited in the tray one after the other. The 3kg weight is achieved by combining two loads of 1,500g. Each 450g pack is filled in a single operation.

The RV range of multihead weighers features what Ishida calls its unique triple combination calculation software, which will generate optimal weight combinations, double check them and select the combination nearest the target weight, all in a single cycle.

Executive director of the Slovak company Michal Hajden has been extremely pleased with the multihead’s performance. “It is both accurate and reliable,” he says, “as well as being easy to set up and operate – and Ishida provided us with initial training to ensure we were familiar with all the features of the machine."

The RV weigher operates for 12 hours a day, handling both cooked and raw potatoes. The installation is designed to remove background vibration from the load cell output signal, improving signal stability and machine accuracy, says Ishida.

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