Visser ITE Visser ITE
 Home » News » Combi filler

THE NEW COMBI FILLER FILLS AND PLANTS IN TRAYS AND POTS

Imagine one machine that can fill and transplant into separate pots, trays and flats. May we present… the Combi filler. This multifunctional machine is  also capable of planting several plugs into one pot so that a full and bushy plant is grown. 

The Combi filler was originally developed for the nursery stock production, and as the name of the machine already suggests, it has a combination of features. It handles both pots, containers, trays, boxes, crates, flats and anything else with a maximum size of 60 x 40 cm. All performances such as destacking, filling, dibbing and planting are done with one machine. Because of this only one production line needs to be purchased which brings major space and cost saving. The fully integrated transplanter can, because of its large number of grippers, plant several plugs in one pot with preservation of the capacity.

FOUR SEPERATE PLUGS INSTEAD OF FOUR CUTTINGS IN ONE PLUG
The planting of 2 or more separate plugs distributed over the pot offers several advantages instead of one plug with 4 cuttings in the centre of the pot.

1. Drop out, when one of the cuttings is not rooted you lose 4 or the 3 remaining cuttings produce a less quality plant.

2. Possibility for transplanting graded plants. With 4 cuttings in each plug it is very hard to grade. It is much easier with 4 individual plugs it gives a more equal growing result.

3. Better light usage at the start of the growth. By distributing the plants over the pot instead of concentrating in the centre each plug gets optimal light and grows better.

FIRST MACHINES ARE OPERATIONAL
After a year of development and testing the prototypes, the first machines are running at nursery stocks Koos Buitenhuis, Gebr. G. en T. Rijkaart and John van Oosterwijck in The Netherlands. They needed a filler / transplanter with combined features -  a machine that could handle both pots and trays and which was capable of transplanting several plugs per pot. The Combi filler is also produced for indoor potted plant nurseries and there are many possibilities for example: Ficus, Spatphyllum, Palms and many other types. Seasonal products such as perennials are also possible. The machine can handle all pot sizes between 9 and 24 cm. An important advantage is the ability to plant several plugs in one pot resulting in a higher plant density. Several graded plugs at the same time are possible resulting in a equal quality. This results in less grading labour during the shipping process which saves time. Shortage of time at packaging  is no longer an issue!

PATENT IN SEVERAL AREAS
The new Combi filler, when  compared to the investment cost of separate machine lines for trays and pots, is very low priced. The patented concept is therefore one of a kind. The patent was granted not only for the combination of filling and transplanting but also for the way the pots are filled with substrate. New at this point is that the substrate is filled through a template into the trays or pots and no substrate is returned into the soil hopper. Because of this substrate is no longer ground into dust as conventional potting machines often do. Remaining substrate and dust are history!



HISTORY
Due to labour peaks in the bedding plant sector the development of transplanters started 15 years ago. The machines can transfer young plants from a seed tray to a larger pot, tray or flat fully automatically. Working with a number of people at the potting machine and unequal planting results are history because manually planting, even done well, cannot compete with the super accurate results of a robot. Until now there was the option between a transplanter in combination with a pot filler or a tray filler. For the automation of both pots and trays you needed a separate machine line and also twice as much space for both lines – as well as the logistics problem of merging both lines (buffer conveyor and transport truck or mobile benches) to the production location. Two years ago these logistic issues became also a problem at nursery stock grower Koos Buitenhuis in Boskoop and came to Visser with the idea to build a machine that could do both jobs. However the machine needed to be longer because a round pot filling machine did not offer enough room for more than 4 planting grippers. All other pot filling machines on the market are developed in a time that there were no transplanters or the builders simply did not take into account with it. Another task of the combi filler can be drilling 3 to 4 plant holes in one pot at the same time  - such an accurate machine was previously not  available.

FILLING
The Combi filler is longer than the average potting machine but fits, due to its compactness, very well in the production room. It produces no return soil because the soil cannot drop beside the pot since the pots are rotating underneath a large template that corresponds with the pots. The soil is dumped on this template and falls through the holes exactly into the pots. When the pots are filled the surplus of soil is pushed to the next hole automatically. There are five pot carriers with 6 pots underneath the template at the same time. A sensor level controls the soil supply. When another pot size or tray needs to be filled only the template and pot carriers need to be changed which are all quickly interchangeable.

PLANTING
The Combi filler can plant several plugs in one pot up to a maximum of 10 plugs. The machine at nursery stock Rijkaard is equipped with 6 plant grippers but the machine can contain up to 20 plant grippers. The 6 grippers picks the plugs from 3 trays at the same time. With that 2 grippers are operating simultaneously at one tray. In the computer system 50 tray types are programmable that differ by size and number of holes - as long as the tray size does not exceed 60 x 40 cm. A plant gripper moves to the programmed position after which 4 needles are shot into the plug. This happens as far as possible at the outside of the plug so that the complete plug is removed from the tray. The depth of the needles is adjustable, as well as how long and how hard the plant gripper may squeeze into the plug.

CONCLUSION
Originally developed for nursery stocks but sure also very suitable for the flora culture business: a multi functional filler / transplanter which handles both trays and pots. Moreover it can plant several plants in one pot. This all gives a qualitative higher end product  and saves production time and space. The relatively low investment and low maintenance costs results in a lower unit price per product.

For more information you can contact:
Hans Preesman, Tel.: +31 78 673 98 15   Mobile: +31 6 53 25 66 21   E-mail: h.preesman@visserite.com
 | Home |  | Contact |  | Search |  | Sitemap |