A FoodJet depositor with vision puts a chocolate design on each cereal, granola, energy or protein bar: a word, a name, a logo or a seasonal motif, in chocolate or compound. Vision measures every bar after cutting, so the design follows its position and rotation, and a new design is a recipe, not new tooling.
Bars sell on their top. Most lines decorate them with a stringer that draws fixed lines across the belt: the chocolate also lands between the bars and on the belt, and every bar gets the same lines. The other route is dipping or enrobing, which gives a full coat of chocolate with no room for a design.
A vision system measures the position, rotation and outline of every bar. The FoodJet Control Platform on the industrial PC turns the stored design into a droplet map for that bar, and a heated depositing head with a row of individually controlled nozzles deposits it on the moving belt. The design follows the measured outline of each bar, even when bars sit off-centre or rotated after cutting, and the line keeps running.
ENERGY on one run, a heart or a star the next: a design is a file, not a tool. You can also run a different design per lane, so several products leave the same line.
Each nozzle opens only where the design needs it, so the chocolate you pay for ends up on your bars. You buy less chocolate, and your line needs less cleaning.
Vision checks every bar against the limits the operator has set. A bar that is broken or too short gets no chocolate, and its status is passed on to your line, so your reject system knows which bar to take out.
Where only the top of the bar shows, you can deposit a full chocolate layer on the top face as an alternative to dipping, with a free rim that follows the shape of each bar. FoodJet deposits from above only, so for a coat all round, an enrober remains the right choice.
Stringer or enrober | FoodJet with vision | |
|---|---|---|
Design | The same lines, or a full coat | Text, logo or motif, per bar |
Bar out of specification | Gets chocolate anyway | No chocolate, and a signal to your reject system |
Chocolate on the belt | Also between the bars and on the belt | Only an occasional drop |
New design | New tooling, or not possible | Load another recipe; designs can differ per lane |
Alternatives to shower head and waterfall depositors · Graphical decoration · MDLVW600
Send us your bar size and lanes, how the bars arrive after cutting, your chocolate or compound, the designs you want and your line speed. We test it with your own bars. After the trial, we advise on the setup for your line and send you a proposal.