Partwell Create a Plastic Nozzle to Replace Outdated Metal Nozzle for Cake Filling

Partwell have a local client in the food processing industry, this client has a cake filling plant. The said client invited our technical sales engineers to visit their plant to identify any areas of the production plant that would benefit from our plastic part engineering service, i.e. replacing worn parts to improve performance, improving the design of current components or replacing OEM metal parts with non-rusting plastic components.

The client was using a metal nozzle for the cake filling process. The bore (filling ejecting area) of this nozzle was quite wide and non-adjustable. Partwell produced the CAD drawing file and CNC engineered an alternative component in Acetal plastic.

The objective of the site visit was to establish if Partwell could assist in saving costs and improving productivity. The cost of the acetal nozzle was more economical than the previous component; it was also designed and machined with an adjustable bore, to enable the processors to better control the volume of filling that is ejected.

Why Acetal?

• It is fully FDA (Food and Drug Administration) approved for direct contact with food stuffs.
• The tolerance of the fitting needed to be minimal, Acetal is very easy to CNC machine to close tolerances.
• Acetal (POM) is used in a wide variety of industries as it is an excellent general purpose wear and abrasions resistant thermoplastic material.
• It will withstand continuous service temperatures of up to 95° C. The plastic nozzle will not distort or warp at temperatures below this level, even with continuous production.
• It is a relatively inexpensive material; therefore the client was able to order multiple products to carry spares in their own stores.

Partwell Group can manufacture plastic guards as an alternative to expensive OEM guards. All of which are manufactured in our North West based machine shop. OEM guards can be expensive and have lengthy lead times. Partwell can machine to your specification, most often at a lower cost and with improved production lead times, whilst always maintaining equivalent safety.

When working closely with clients, Partwell engineers often find that there are aspects of the machine guards or guides that the client would like to improve or redesign; the CNC engineers will liaise with the client to ensure they have the optimum solution whist maintaining good hygiene, employee safety and value for money.

Partwell Group is an industrial sheet plastic stockist, with vast stocks of all grades including PC Polycarbonate, PETG, PVC, PMMA Acrylic, Perspex and many more. Ordering engineered components from a sheet plastic stock holder will minimise the production lead time. Partwell Group also offers services from our water jet cutting machine.

Transparent polycarbonate machine guards offer optical clarity for the machine operator as well excellent impact strength over a wide temperature range, see photo. PETG offers greater rigidity than Polycarbonate, but this can limit its machining capabilities. PETG is approved for direct food contact. PVC would be most suitable for guarding when there is a requirement for high chemical resistance, as it offers excellent performance against exposure to salts, acids and alkalis.

Content writer for Brick technology Ltd, Blackburn, Lancashire.