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Valve bags provide an efficient means to fill and securely close a flexible bag to prevent the contents of the bag from leaking or sifting out of the bag once the bag has been filled. A valve bag is totally sealed on all sides prior to bag filling except for an open sleeve located in a corner of the bag to allow introduction of material that is to be held within the bag. The valve sleeve of the bag functions as a one-way or check valve to keep the contents from escaping after it is loaded.

Valve bags are filled with specialized filling machines that are classified simply enough as valve bag fillers. During the filling process, an empty valve bag is projected onto the filling tube or filling spout of a valve bag filler. The spout penetrates through the open sleeve of the bag into the bag’s interior. Product is then passed through the tube into the bag. After the bag is filled, the product inside the bag pushes the one-way valve closed and preventing the product from leaking out. Valve bags are commonly used to contain and transport material such as dry powders and granular products, examples of which are cement, concrete, minerals, chemicals, seeds, grains and fertilizers. Valve bags are constructed of a variety of materials paper, plastic film and plastic woven mesh.

Open mouth bags provide a versatile means to package virtually any type of product. An open mouth bag has one open end through which product is filled through a large throated spout. Open mouth bags are filled with specialized filling machines that are classified simply enough as open mouth bag fillers. Filling and sealing open mouth bags is a two step process. During the filling process, the open end of an empty open mouth bag is placed underneath the filling spout of an open mouth bag filler. The spout slips inside the bag’s open end and is securely clamped to prevent product spillage during the filling process.

After the bag is filled, the bag is sealed or closed with either a hot melt glue sealer, plastic bag sealer or bag sewing machine. Open mouth bags are commonly used to contain and transport material such as dry powders and granular products, examples of which are food products, chemicals, seeds, grains, fertilizers & landscaping products. Open mouth bags are constructed of a variety of materials paper, plastic film and plastic woven mesh.

Gross weigh fillers are designed to simultaneously fill and weigh bags, boxes or drums with dry bulk products. Gross weigh fillers are available in open mouth, valve bag and big bag fillers. The different available types of gross weighing fillers are gravity, pneumatic, auger, impeller, vibratory and belt fed models utilizing balance scale beam or electronic load-cell technology to efficiently and accurately meter dry bulk products such as fine powders, granular materials, chunks and pieces in a controllable, predictable fashion. The top rate of filling speed of a single gross weigh filler is a maximum of 12 bags per minute although multiple gross weigh fillers can be paired together to achieve higher production rates. However, it should be considered that factors such as product flow characteristics, the bag used, and other conditions specific to the plant environment can heavily influence the actual production rate achieved.

Net weigh fillers are designed to pre-weigh dose charges of product into a scaled weigh hopper before delivering it into the bag. This method of bag filling is typically more weight accurate than most gross weigh fillers are capable of. Net weigh fillers are used to fill and weigh bags, boxes or drums with dry bulk products. Net weigh fillers are available in open mouth, valve bag and big bag fillers. There are various styles of net weigh fillers available including gravity, pneumatic, auger, vibratory and belt fed models to efficiently and accurately meter dry bulk products such as fine powders, granular materials, chunks and pieces in a controllable, predictable fashion. The top rate of filling speed of a single net weigh filler is a maximum of 25 bags per minute. However, it should be considered that factors such as product flow characteristics, the bag used, and other conditions specific to the plant environment can heavily influence the actual production rate achieved.

Mechanical weighing scales are basic, simple and easy to use. For work environments that see a high rate of employee turnover and / or a lower degree of education or computer sophistication, mechanical weighing scales make a better choice than digital weighing scales in these applications nearly every time.

• Mechanical weighing scales are easy to set up and adjust and require the least amount of operator training. Typically, mechanical weighing scales have three controls: a start button, a stop button and a weight hanger or slide that you add weights to or take weights from to adjust the target weight of the filler.
• Mechanical weighing scales are easily to trouble shoot and repair if / when they experience mechanical difficulty and they can typically be serviced by an in-house maintenance person to conduct the repairs.
• Mechanical weighing scales are typically more economical to maintain than digital weighing scales.
• Mechanical weighing scales are not nearly as susceptible to damage (to computer components) black outs, brown outs, power surges, electrical storms.

It is important to note three key limitations of mechanical scales that are not problems for digital scales:

• Zeroing in on an exact target weight with a mechanical weighing scale can be a process of trial and error and sometimes takes several bags at initial setup to dial in the weight accuracy to an acceptable tolerance. If you are filling multiple bag weights from the same machine, this process would need to be repeated each time you changed from filling one bag weight to another.
• Mechanical weighing scales are not “intelligent” and do not know (and give no indication) if the rate of product flow is changing or that they are drifting off the target weight and do not have the capability of making automatic adjustments to bring bag weights back into an acceptable tolerance. This typically means that if better than an average weight accuracy of +/- 1% of the target weight is required, periodic scale checks or “check weighing” may be required. This would mean an additional step every 5, 10 or 20 bags of placing a random bag on a secondary weight scale to periodically check the weight of bags to insure they stay within the required specification.
• Mechanical weighing scales have no way to transmit or record “real time” even the most basic production information such as bag weights and total unit production.
• Which is better? In the end it comes down to who will primarily be responsible for operating, adjusting and maintaining the equipment and what are the major priorities for your particular application.

• Digital weighing scales are typically more weight accurate, provide the operator useful feedback and are faster to tune to precise weights.
• Digital weighing scales typically have a lower reject rate than mechanical scales typically experiencing a reject rate of less than 2% Of course, specific results will vary from application to application, however, digital scales virtually always provide better bag weight accuracy than mechanical weighing scales.
• Micro Processor Controls Display Each Final Fill Weight Giving the System Operator Instant Feedback as to Whether the Machine is Weighing Accurately or Not
• No More Manual Trim – Micro Processor controls automatically track and adjust the cutoff point of the filler to compensate for changes in bulk density and product flow rates on the fly without sacrificing production rates.
• Diagnostic Tools, Automatic Flow Rate Tracking and Auto-Correction for changes in flow rates or bulk density
• Reduction in Maintenance Costs – With the implementation of a digital weighing scale, nearly all of the mechanical moving parts of the weighing system are eliminated such as scale beams, knife edges and counterweights which converts to reduced maintenance costs.
• Micro Processor Controls Display Each Final Fill Weight Giving the System Operator Instant Feedback as to Whether the Machine is Weighing Accurately or Not

• Digital weighing scales require a greater amount of training and skill to operate than a typical mechanical weighing scale. In applications where high employee turnover is frequent, operator training becoming a continuing necessity.
• Even though infrequent, if there are problems with a digital scale, it becomes more of a challenge for in-house maintenance personnel to troubleshoot the problems without giving in outside support.

Please call us for more information on how to locate your local CBE Representative.

Answer a few short multiple choice questions about your application and let the Bagger Professor help you choose the best equipment for your application.

Instructions: To choose a bagger, please select as many requirements as necessary. Answering each question will help the Bagger Professor narrow down which of our Models of bag fillers is best suited for your application. Although you do not need to answer every question, the more questions you answer, the more accurately the Bagger Professor will be able to help choose the correct machine for your specific needs.

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