Ziger machine GESKA

Description

In the early days, the task of forming a ready-to-sell Zigerstöckli from the primary product, the low-fat, seasoned Ziger cheese curd, was carried out by hand, later with transmission gear systems of cast iron and beech wood, and later with the first directly driven moulding press.

Based on these three generations of Zigerstöckli moulding presses, we worked with the customer to rethink the familiar process technology and implement it in a modern, fully digital system. 

The focus was on a simple and robust design, the fulfilment of current food safety requirements and easy cleaning, which required a gread deal of effort in the detailed design. 

Project details

The new system is designed as a smooth roller pump with two rotors, followed by a distributor with three moulding nozzles.

The pump is fed with the curd via a low-frequency vibration hopper.
A special feature is the contactless seal to the pressing chamger, which operated at approx. 25 bar, this had to be tested and optimised in a test set-up. 
The entire roller pump can be dismantled for cleaning in a few simple steps. 
The cheese mass is then pressed into Ω-shaped silo moulds, which are combined in a set of 3 as interchangeable parts.
This allows the different mould types to be easily exchanged without further adjustment.

The entire process is controlled via the stored recipe, all process-relevant movements are carried out by servomotors, making parameter adjustments on the HMI simple and reproducible. 

After ejection from the mould, the finished Zigerstöckli are transported to the quality control / packaging station via a conveyor belt. 

Key technical data

Construction year: 2018
Project lenght: approx. 12 months
Measurements: L x W x H = 1.2 x 2.5 x 2.4 m
Weight: 600 kg

PLC: SIMATIC Manager S7
Operation: Siemens Touchpanel 7 Zoll
Special feature: control cabinet and operating elements IP67