Automatic control and a claimed working rate of up to 75t or 60 boxes an hour are features of the first vegetable box filler from Belgian manufacturer AVR.

The Scorpio has sensors and lights to indicate when empty boxes have been correctly positioned for filling, and belt height and fill level sensors trigger the traversing belt conveyor to maintain the minimum delivery height for minimal risk of bruising.

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Overhead flaps that discourage potatoes from rolling down the smooth belt contribute to the damage-mitigation features, which also include the small diameter of the electric drum motor installed at both ends of the belt to ensure equal traction in either direction.

Conveyor link-up

A 7in touchscreen display and buttons on the electrical control box and are used to set up the device and installation of AVR’s Line Control software enables the box filler to be linked to conveyors and other elements in the crop handling line.

This facility will stop the entire line when both boxes are full to avoid over-spills, and automatically restart it once the filling belt is in position near the bottom of an empty box.

Also, when switching from a full to an empty box, the filler will buffer product to avoid impacting on the whole line’s capacity.

With an adjustable frame and box position, the Scorpio can work with all common box sizes and dimensions, says AVR.

Options include infinite adjustment of the feed belt to precisely match the rest of the line, switched power outlets, LED work lights and an extra supply belt that can be used to provide additional buffering capacity.

Priced from £26,900, the Scorpio takes up a footprint of at least 6.33×2.61m and measures 3.48m high.