Custom Designed Sieving Station

The Task:

A food company based in Lincolnshire came to us with a request of 2 pretty basic sieves on stands in order to be able to sieve a range of ingredients that will be used to make savoury pies.

After providing an initial quote, our engineer visited the site to discuss the project. After seeing the factory layout and discussing the overall objectives, we offered to help aid the production process and develop it into a more sustainable, fluent process the system then developed into something much more complexed and specialised.

The sieving process main goal is to screen from potentially contaminated product. The ingredients come into the goods-in area and then need to be check-screened before progressing further into the clean environment of the manufacturing facility.

The Solution:

We designed a sieve that was arranged on the framework in a specific way so that the goods-in and screened sides of the facility were completely separate. The sieves were mounted on a framework which was positioned next to a hole in the whitewall which divided the two areas. The framework was clad in stainless steel on 3 sides to re-establish the separation. The only way to be able to allow products to transfer from each side was through the mesh of the sieve.

At the goods-in side the operators would empty sacks of the product into the sieve which would then get transferred to the clean side. At the clean side there would be a tote bin which is positioned under the sieve outlet. As the product was sieved it was passed from the goods-in side to the clean side without the danger of any contaminated product reaching the clean side from the goods-in side. The system also ensures that any product that had already been screened couldn’t be re-contaminated as the machine was designed to keep them completely separated.

To ensure co-ordination in the operation the sieve station included sensors and indicator lights that would detect when a tote bin was in the correct position so that the operators who were situated in the goods-in area knew when they could feed product into the sieve.

The sieves were also supplied with a range of mesh frames with different apertures to be able to process a variety of products. To aid in organising these we supplied a mobile mesh rack that was specially fabricated here at Gough Engineering.

The Result:

After working with the client to come up with something they were happy with as well as Gough’s careful design and manufacture, the client successfully met their target which was to prevent the product from getting contaminated. The sieve managed to keep the two sides entirely separate to avoid contamination and ensure a sound production process.