Flexicon, a business division of Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group, has introduced an upgraded version of its established and successful FlexFeed30 (FF30) tabletop liquid filling and capping machine for the pharmaceutical, biotech and diagnostic industries.

Focussing predominantly on ease-of-use, the upgraded features are set to make the Flexicon FF30 even more appealing for laboratories, hospital pharmacies, R&D departments, essential oil manufacturers, cosmetics producers and general subcontract filling companies.

1200 bottles per hour

The Flexicon FF30 is capable of filling and capping up to 1200 bottles per hour with diameters from 12 to 50mm (up to 110mm high). Standard screw caps, pipette caps or bespoke cap designs up to 50mm diameter (40mm high) are tightened with consistent torque to prevent bottle leaks. A further advantage of the FF30, which provides an attractive alternative to costly fully automatic solutions, is that repetitive strain injuries arising from manual capping are eliminated.

From a cleanliness and hygiene perspective, the entire fluid path on the FF30 has been designed for single use, thus preventing cross contamination, while the machine's small foot print makes it suitable for deployment at different locations within a production facility, including within a laminar airflow (LAF) cabinet.

Ultimately, the FF30 meets the demands of flexible small batch production and delivers consistent quality that is not possible with manual filling and capping. Moreover, a complete bottle and cap changeover can be completed in less than 5 minutes, contributing significantly to rapid return on investment.

Advanced features

Among the upgraded features, an updated bottle sensor makes for easy adjustment when changing from transparent to dark bottles, while a new design of ejector arm facilitates more gentle movement of unstable bottles.

Also of note is an integrated power outlet for peristaltic fillers such as the Flexicon PF6 or 520Di, meaning less wiring in/out of the filling area. Last but not least, ergonomic improvements to the user interface see the introduction of new buttons that help simplify operations and are more suitable for a cGMP environment.

more about watson-marlow

more news from watson-marlow