I. GENERAL TECHNICAL FEATURES
II. FEATURES OF THE PLC-IMPLEMENTED MACHINES
III. COMPONENTS
IV. CERTIFICATES AND TESTS
V. ANNEXES

I. GENERAL TECHNICAL FEATURES
The rinsing machines of the FM97 series are manufactured with material and state of the art technical solutions In particular their look is very refined from an esthetical point of view, since the chassis forms an integral body without edges, fully built in polished stainless steel with wide transparent surfaces. This not only gives the machines a modern aspect, but also makes it clean and practical.
The wide transparent panels are made of high impact and high resistance plastic material. The panels on the front and back side of the machine can be opened to make the cleaning and maintenance operations easier and are equipped with sensors stopping the machine in case of accidental opening.
This solution was chosen to avoid any accident to the personnel caused by rotating parts and movement gears while the machine is working in automatic mode.

The external mechanisms of the machines and the parts exposed to the contact with water are made in stainless steel X5CrNi 1810 (AISI 304), material with high alimentary compatibility and easy to be cleaned. The mechanical parts in contact with the bottle or with the rinsing flow, such as the grippers, the plug valve, etc. are manufactured in stainless steel X5CrNiMo 1712 (AISI 316), a material with better features than the previous one, above all from the alimentary point of view. Some parts are made of plastic material or rubber; also those materials are certified for food usage (or compatible with such use, as in the case of starwheels, screws and conveyors, which in any case operate at a certain distance from the rinsing zone).

he mechanical parts located inside the chassis of the machine are manufactured in carbon steel and protected from oxidation through a superficial zinc plating (at least 7 µm). The gears driving the starwheels, the screw, etc., consist of parts made of steel and plastic material with high mechanical resistance (Nylon 6) alternatively; this avoids the contacts between metal parts and increases remarkably the noiselessness of the gearbox. To eliminate the inconvenience of the vibration, big dimension machines are equipped with helical teeth gears.

During the rotation of the carrousel, the gripper is overturned by 180° thanks to a suitably shaped tubular cam, putting the bottle overturned in vertical position with the mouth downwards and in correspondence to an injection nozzle.

The rinsing machines of the FM97 series are rotary machines using a screw and starwheel system (see drawing at paragraph IX); the bottle is taken from the conveyor belt and positioned in correspondence to the gripper that seizes it tight in the zone of the neck (ring). The gripper is integral with a carrousel but can rotate on its transverse axis freely. During the rotation of the carrousel, the gripper is overturned by 180° thanks to a suitably shaped tubular cam, putting the bottle overturned in vertical position with the mouth downwards and in correspondence to an injection nozzle (picture at side). After the rinsing the dripping phase starts, it ends when the gripper rotates downwards again positioning the bottle in the starwheel leading it on the conveyor belt and towards the machine outlet.

The injection system of the machine is manufactured in such a way that the injection on the grippers which for any reason did not seize any bottle is prevented. This device avoids any spray upwards, which would shower both the machine and the room around it.

The rotating parts of the machine, such as the carrousel and the starwheels, etc. are equipped with ball clutch operating in case of excessive rotation efforts caused by wrongly positioned bottles in the size parts or by the possible breakage of mechanical parts. The clutches are also equipped with sensors completely stopping the machine until resetting the correct working conditions
The machines of the FM97 series are predisposed for a fully automated operation. In fact, they are equipped with two photocells at the inlet and outlet of the conveyor belt. Controlling the flow of bottles, they stop the treatment when a jam forms in the line of production. Every machine is equipped with a frequency converter (inverter) operating the electrical motor and varying the working speed, moreover an electro-valve at the beginning of the rinsing liquid injection system stops the flow at every machine stop and resets it at every start.
An electrical in-line linkage enables adjusting the height of the carrousel on which grippers are mounted. This enables working with bottles of different heights.
The original size parts (starwheels, conveyor, and screw) supplied with the machine can be easily substituted with the other ones, suitable to work with different diameters or with non cylindrical forms. The size parts completing the machine are numbered to make the assembly easy.
The grippers are equipped with shaped pads to seize the bottles tightly in the zone of the neck and the ring. The pads are interchangeable, which enables using the same machine with bottles with different necks and rings.

II. CHARACTERISTICS OF THE PLC-IMPLEMENTED MACHINES (OPTION)
These machines are characterized by a high automation degree thanks to the wide use of electronics. A PLC controls the automatic operation of the machine, its production speed, its good performance and provides to stop it in case of breakages or mal-functioning. To carry out those tasks and make the necessary checks, the PLC is equipped with the following devices:
- A frequency converter (electronic phase inverter), regulating the speed of the main motor reducer, and therefore the production speed,
- Two photocells on the chain conveyor at the inlet and outlet of the machine controlling the traffic of bottles,
- Some micro-sensors detecting the intervention of the clutches of starwheels, screw and main motor gearbox.
- A proximity switch detecting the necessary data for the automatic adjustment of the gripper holding carrousel during the format changes;
- Four micro-switches signaling the opening of the front and back doors.

Besides the PLC is implemented with an interactive liquid crystal digital display (LCD display), a simple and efficient interface with the operator for important functions, such as recalling the automatic adjustment sets-up of the machine related to every bottle format; inputting new sets-up; varying the production speed, controlling the various operation parameters and in the end communicating the alarms of machine stop due to accidents or breakages.

III. COMPONENTS
The machines of the FM97 series bear first class certified mechanical, electrical, and electronic components. The following list shows the most important ones:

FREQUENCY CONVERTER (INVERTER). Standard OMRON
ELECTRICAL CENTRAL MOTOR REDUCER . Standard BONFIGLIOLI
ELECTRICAL LIFTING MOTOR REDUCER . Standard BONFIGLIOLI
INLET AND OUTLET PHOTOCELLS Standard TELEMECANIQUIE
MANOMETER OF THE RINSING SYSTEM Standard MAGNI
ELECTRICAL COMPONENTS OF THE SWITCHBOARD Standard K.&M.
ELECTROVALVE OF THE RINSING SYSTEM Standard BURKERT / SIRAI
FITTINGS Standard JOHN GUEST
MICRO-SWITCHES OF THE CLUTCHES Standard PIZZATO
MICRO-SWITCHES OF THE DOOR PANELS Standard PIZZATO
ANGULAR COUNTERSHAFT FOR SCREW Standard SITI / POGGI
PLC (OPTION) Standard OMRON

IV. CERTIFICATES AND TESTS
The machines of the FM97 series are manufactured with certified materials and components. In particular it is important to state that:
- The electrical system is executed in compliance with the EC norms.
- The materials of the mechanical parts in contact with the bottles and/or the rinsing liquid are certified for food usage, whether they are in metal or plastic or rubber.
- the machines have received a certificate of compliance with the EI EN 60204 – 1993 law, as well as a certificate of conformity to the noise and vibration levels.
- At the end of the construction every machine is suitably adjusted and tested with all size parts and accessories of which it will be implemented.

V. DOCUMENTATION ATTACHED
With the machine we supply an illustrated operating and maintenance manual, important to maintain its level of performance in time and available in the following languages: English, French, German, Italian, and Spanish, accompanies the machine, while the certificates mentioned at chapter IV can be supplied on specific demand.