Hygiene and safety are essential when inspecting empty bottles of juice, cola or beer. The DAVID 2 inspection machine from miho Inspektionssysteme GmbH utilises the HD5 enabling device from ABB with an integrated AS-i safety interface for maximum safety and ergonomics.
Filling returnable bottles requires the highest standards of hygiene and consumer protection. Even minimal residue or damage to bottles can harbour considerable risks, which is why such bottles must be removed from the production process. In large industrial bottling plants that process tens of thousands of bottles per hour, specialised machines take over the task of inspecting empty bottles. One of these machines is DAVID 2 from the mechanical engineering company miho from Ahnatal in Hesse, which is used by over 500 breweries and beverage bottlers worldwide. Company founder Michael Horst developed a special high-frequency technology that reliably detects lye residue in washed bottles.
miho attaches great importance to occupational health and safety and has made a name for itself with its holistic service philosophy. „In order to improve safety for our customers and comprehensively fulfil legal occupational health and safety requirements, we have equipped the DAVID 2 with the ergonomic HD5 enabling device from ABB,“ says Mark Borowski, Production Manager for the DAVID 2 at miho. miho had already been using the predecessor model HD4 and decided to upgrade to the HD5 due to Further improved safety and ergonomic features 2021 for the upgrade to the HD5. „The device is now even lighter in the hand and prevents accidental restarting of the belts with even greater reliability,“ says the DAVID 2 specialist.
The HD5 is part of ABB's AS-i safety portfolio, which combines maximum machine safety with intuitive handling. „The basis for this is the AS-i fieldbus system, which has proven itself since the early 1990s as a standard for the flexible networking of machine-related sensors, controllers and input/output control units,“ explains Marco Schroth from the Mechanical Engineering segment support of ABB Stotz-Kontakt GmbH. The HD5 contains sensors that ensure that only a human hand can operate the switch, which prevents tampering and unintentional triggering.
The HD5 is a three-stage tuning device, suitable for various application scenarios such as conveyor systems or maintenance inspections. The switch has reverse polarity protected, lightweight two-wire cabling for data and power transmission. Translucent LED lights indicate the switching status in red and green. The devices can be customised. Connection via AS-i is fast and failsafe, Seamlessly integrates the enabling switch into the data communication of the inspection machine and enables simple modifications without major effort. The smooth upgrade from the HD4 to the HD5 shows that miho is keeping a wide range of future options open for its empties inspection machine through clever standardisation.
