The French machine builder has already won numerous awards for its commitment to mechatronics and digitalization and is one of the great hopes for the French government's Industry 4.0 initiative “Industrie du futur.” Thimonnier's ability to innovate is in no small part due to the company investing 15% of its revenue in R&D; this helps the global market leader in packaging technology to continuously achieve an average revenue growth of 10% per year.

From stitching to sealing

The company, which is based in the Lyon region, has a long and proud history.The story of the company began when Barthélemy Thimonnier became the world's first sewing machine manufacturer. In 1830, he developed his patented basic sewing machine model, the Couseuse. In the 1950s, the company was asked by a fashion designer to produce a waterproof raincoat made from PVC.

“My grandfather, Louis Doyen, who was the company's Managing Director at the time, quickly realized that this could not be done using conventional sewing machines. He added a high-frequency generator to the sewing machines and sealed the PVC film,” explained Sylvie Guinard, the current CEO. Around 10 years later, the sealing of these flexible materials laid the foundation for the Doypack®.

Doyen patented the stand-up pouch in 1963 and the company went on to become a specialist in filling and packaging technology for flexible materials. “Doypack® pouches are the future of packaging. The many benefits of these high-quality stand-up pouches make them extremely popular with manufacturers and consumers,” said Guinard.“The stand-up pouch is an effective marketing tool for brand advertising. It is lightweight and has many great features. For example, it can be resealed, is efficient in terms of logistics, is easy to handle and visually appealing.”

Filling and closing

One of the machines from Thimonnier that has been eagerly awaited by the market is the SF102. This filling and sealing machine for Doypack® pouches with screw cap is easy and flexible to operate, easy to clean and access, and has a small footprint. It is popular with manufacturers of compotes, baby food, dairy products, fruit juices, soups and sauces, as well as liquid detergents and cleaning products, liquid soaps, creams and shampoos, and even engine oil.

After the stand-up pouch has been fed in, a compact cylinder ADNGF from Festo forwards it to the filling station. The correct filling quantity is determined using electromagnetic or mass flow measurement, or a dosing pump depending on the customer's requirements. At the next station, the screw caps are screwed onto the stand-up pouches. The Festo swivel module DSM-B transports the filled and sealed pouches to a conveyor.

IO-Link® in action

All the pneumatic functions of the SF102 are controlled by the valve manifold VTUG. It is compact, has a high flow rate, and has IO-Link® on board. The uncomplicated wiring of the sensor-actuator combinations with standardized, unscreened cables using IO-Link® reduces material costs, simplifies logistics, and saves time. This connection technology therefore makes installation much easier.

“With this modern connection technology, Festo is giving our packaging machines a major upgrade that will enable us to move closer towards Industry 4.0,” says Pierre Gualino, Assistant to the Head of Development. For compressed air preparation, the installed service unit components from Festo's MS series are equipped with fine, ultrafine, and activated carbon food filters for direct contact with food. The machines from Thimonnier are thus ideally equipped to guarantee optimum food quality.

不同的立袋尺寸

THD400 机器可用于高达 5 升的较大立袋。它使用热密封技术分 4 个步骤灌装和密封传送带上的 Doypack® 及其他预成型立袋。在加载工位，Festo HGPL 型气动抓爪从工件托架上取下立袋，送到开料工位，然后用压缩空气打开立袋。灌装发生在下一工位。

采用 Festo 电缸 EPCO 实现配料针的精确定位。在最后一个工位，立袋完成密封并卸到输送机上。EPCO 由 CMMO 控制器控制，并通过 IO-Link® 集成。同样，配置 IO-Link® 的阀气路板 VTUG 被用于控制 THD400 的气动运动。

智能传感器和驱动器

IO-Link® 是一种智能连接，可与工业 4.0 的传感器和驱动器完美匹配：复杂的诊断信息可采用标准化协议快速传输，实现状态监控概念。Festo 还提供许多 IO-Link® 设备，涵盖不同的传感器系列到阀气路板、电动驱动器、步进电机控制器。

“在 Festo 等自动化合作伙伴的支持下，我们可以确保始终与机电一体化和工业 4.0 的最新发展保持同步，”首席执行官 Sylvie Guinard 提到，“我们的多功能机器拥有直观的人机界面，能源消耗更少，维护需求更少，工艺成本更低。”