1、 Core components of the system: full process automation from "feeding" to "discharging"

The automatic batching and weighing system for small materials needs to adapt to the storage, transportation, measurement, and mixing of multiple varieties of small materials. It typically consists of five modules, which work together to ensure accuracy and efficiency

Raw material storage module

Adopting highly sealed "material tanks/silos" (usually with a capacity of 5-50L, designed according to small material usage), equipped with level sensors (such as capacitive and weighing sensors) to monitor the remaining amount in real time and avoid material breakage; For small materials that are prone to moisture absorption and clumping (such as powdered additives), the material tank will also be equipped with mixing devices (such as micro vibrators and spiral stirring blades) to prevent material bridging and blockage.

Precision conveying module

There are two mainstream ways to avoid material loss and errors by using "micro conveying equipment":

Spiral conveyor (micro, diameter 10-30mm): suitable for powdery small materials, precisely controlling the feeding amount by controlling the screw speed and conveying time;

Pneumatic conveying (negative/positive pressure): Suitable for small materials that are prone to flying and pollution (such as pharmaceutical excipients), the material is transported from the material tank to the weighing device through airflow, without residue or pollution.

Weighing and measuring module

The core is a "high-precision weighing sensor" (with an accuracy of ± 0.1g - ± 1g, selected according to ingredient requirements), used in conjunction with a small weighing hopper (capacity 1-10L); The measurement adopts a two-stage control of "coarse fine feeding":

Coarse feeding: Quickly transport to 90% -95% of the target weight, reducing basic time consumption;

Fine feeding: Reduce the conveying speed (such as halving the screw speed or weakening the pneumatic airflow), slowly replenish the material to the target weight, and avoid "overshoot" (i.e. rework caused by excessive material conveying).

Mixing and discharging module

The weighed small materials will enter a small mixer (such as blade type, vortex type) and be mixed evenly according to the set time (usually 1-5 minutes, adjusted according to the characteristics of the material); After mixing, it is precisely transported to downstream main production lines (such as food mixing tanks and chemical reaction vessels) through sealed pipelines or conveyor belts. Some systems are also equipped with "residual material cleaning devices" (such as compressed air blowing and scraper scraping) to avoid cross contamination of different small materials.

Control system module

Equipped with PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) and touch screen, supporting:

Formula storage (can preset dozens to hundreds of small ingredient ratios, such as the "sweetener+preservative" combination formula in the food industry);

Real time monitoring (displaying the operating status of each module, weighing data, and material level information, with automatic alarms in case of abnormalities such as "low material level" or "weighing deviation exceeding threshold");

Data traceability (automatically recording the time, material type, and weighing data of each ingredient, generating reports to meet the compliance requirements of the food and pharmaceutical industries).

2、 Core technical features: Focusing on "micro precision" and "multi variety adaptation"

The technical advantages of the automatic batching and weighing system for small materials are designed for the "difficulty of small material batching", which is significantly different from traditional manual batching or conventional large material batching systems

Ultra high measurement accuracy, solving the problem of "trace errors"

When manually adding small ingredients, it is easy to cause a deviation of ± 5% -10% due to "hand shaking" and "visual errors". However, the system controls the error within ± 0.1% - ± 2% through "high-precision sensors+two-stage feeding" (for example, when a single ingredient is 10g, the error is only ± 0.01g - ± 0.2g), which is particularly suitable for scenarios that are sensitive to the accuracy of the ratio (such as "active ingredient ingredients" in the pharmaceutical industry, where excessive deviation can affect drug efficacy; "additive ingredients" in the food industry, where excessive amounts may violate regulations).

Automated switching of multiple varieties to improve 'material exchange efficiency'

If 10-20 types of small materials need to be processed simultaneously (such as chemical additive production), manual batching requires repeated replacement of spoons and cleaning of containers, which is time-consuming and prone to cross contamination; The system can achieve "one click formula change" through "multiple material tanks+independent conveying channels" - after selecting the preset formula, the system automatically switches the conveying and weighing process of the corresponding material tank, reducing the material change time from manual 30-60 minutes to 5-10 minutes, and each conveying channel is independently sealed without material cross contamination.

Closed loop control and data traceability to meet compliance requirements

The food, pharmaceutical, fine chemical and other industries have "traceability" requirements for small ingredient materials. The system can automatically record the ingredient data for each batch (such as time, operator, material batch number, weighing value), and support data export and audit tracking; At the same time, if there is a deviation during the measurement process (such as a deviation of more than 3% between the actual weighing value and the target value), the system will automatically stop batching and sound an alarm, forming a closed-loop control of "weighing monitoring error correction" to prevent unqualified ingredients from flowing downstream.

Reduce manual intervention and mitigate 'human risk'

When manually adding small ingredients, it is easy to have "wrong addition, missing addition, and excessive reinforcement" (such as mistakenly adding additive A as additive B), and contact ingredients may cause material contamination (such as medical excipients being contaminated by human hair and dust); The system uses "automated feeding weighing discharging" to eliminate the need for manual contact with materials throughout the process, and formula calling and parameter setting are all operated by the system, reducing the mismatch rate by more than 99% while meeting the requirements of "dust-free operation".

3、 Typical application scenario: Suitable for industries with "micro, multi variety, high-precision" demand

The application of the automatic batching and weighing system for small materials revolves around industries where the proportion of small materials is low but the impact is significant. Typical scenarios include:

Food and Beverage Industry

It is used as the ingredient of sweeteners (such as aspartame, 5-20g single ingredient), preservatives (such as potassium sorbate, 10-30g single ingredient), essence and fragrances (such as vanilla essence, 1-5g single ingredient), to ensure the taste and compliance, and to avoid abnormal flavor or violation of regulations caused by excessive manual addition.

Pharmaceutical and Health Products Industry

Used for weighing active ingredients in drugs (such as antibiotic powder, single dose 0.5-5g) and vitamin excipients (such as vitamin C powder, single dose 10-50g), the accuracy directly affects the efficacy, and the system must meet the "dust-free and traceable" requirements of GMP (Good Manufacturing Practice).

Fine Chemicals and Coatings Industry

Used as an ingredient for catalysts (such as trace catalysts in chemical reactions, with a single dosage of 2-10g) and pigments (such as colorants in coatings, with a single dosage of 5-20g), to avoid unstable product performance caused by small material ratio deviations (such as insufficient catalysts leading to incomplete reactions and uneven pigments leading to color differences in coatings).

4、 Selection and use key: avoid "precision waste" and "insufficient adaptation"

Select sensors according to the "ingredient accuracy requirements"

If the single ingredient quantity is ≤ 10g, a sensor with an accuracy of ± 0.1g should be selected; If the dosage is 10-100g, a precision of ± 0.5g can be selected to avoid "excessive pursuit of high precision leading to cost increase" (the cost of high-precision sensors is 2-3 times that of ordinary sensors).

Select the conveying method based on the "material characteristics"

Powdery and easily flying small materials: pneumatic conveying is preferred (no residue, no pollution);

Granular, non clumping small materials: optional micro spiral conveying (low cost, simple maintenance);

Sticky small materials (such as paste additives): A spiral conveyor with heating function should be selected to prevent material solidification and blockage.

Daily maintenance focuses on "precision maintenance"

Regularly calibrate the weighing sensor (recommended once a month, using standard weights for calibration); Clean up residual materials in the conveying channel and weighing hopper (especially before replacing small material varieties); Check if the mixing device of the material tank is functioning properly to avoid material clumping affecting the conveying accuracy.

If your requirements involve specific industries (such as food additive ingredients, pharmaceutical excipient weighing) and specify the "single ingredient quantity" and "accuracy requirements" for small materials, do you need me to help you sort out the system configuration plan for this scenario?