Diversey ZipClean™
Diversey, Inc., whose products, systems and expertise make food, beverages and facilities cleaner and safer, sought the help of Design Concepts to create a reliable, safe, hygienic and efficient system to clean airveyors in beverage bottling plants.
Bottling plants use airveyor systems to move bottles from the point they enter the facility to the point of sanitizing just before they’re filled with beverages. But dirt and debris along the airveyor track can fall into the bottles, potentially contaminating the beverages. For years, processing plant employees have used ladders, towels and spray solutions to manually clean the tracks. The process is labor intensive, expensive, ineffective, and potentially unsafe for workers risking falls from ladders.
To address the challenge, Design Concepts developed the first fully-automated “cleaning-bot,” ZipClean™. At the heart of the ZipClean™ System are a spring loaded mono-wheel and a single use pre-treated cleaning head. The cleaning head is attached to the device, which then self-centers before heading down the track. At the end of the line, the cleaning head folds to trap debris and presents a clean surface as it heads back to the start of the track. Speed and drive functions are automatically controlled by sensors along the route. In addition to the mono-wheel and cleaning head, the unit features a rechargeable power source, integrated LCD screen for system metrics, LED status lights and on-board control and recording software.
The team’s design solution dramatically improves efficiency, hygiene and safety. ZipClean™ cleans airveyor lines significantly faster than conventional hand cleaning: 10-20 minutes for a cleaning cycle rather than 10 hours. It reduces line jamming and eliminates the need to lubricate the line, reducing costs by $12,000 per year for an average bottling site. The system provides the industry’s highest level of sanitation, unsurpassed by any other process while it improves worker safety by eliminating time on ladders and exposure to chemicals.
View the ZipClean™ system in action
