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Filling mascara into small applicators with the Viscotec Hygienic Dispenser. © Viscotec

As early as the 18th century, mascara eyelashes were considered the ideal of beauty in the ladies' world. Back then, a black block of charcoal was used to tint the eyelashes, which had to be rubbed on with a damp brush. In the 19th century, a combination of charcoal and Vaseline was added to the pot - to care for the fine lash hairs.

Today, mascara is produced in countless quantities and made available in drums for filling and packaging. But how do you get the highly viscous mascara paste out of the barrel and how does it end up in the small applicators?

Drum removal
The first step is to remove the viscous mass from the drums. Viscotec offers a simple solution especially for masses with high viscosities (up to 7.5 million mPas) with the ViscoMT removal systems. The mascara is removed from drums using a drum removal system based on the endless piston principle and fed directly to the filling machine via a hose. The drum withdrawal pump is regulated via a two-point pressure control at the end of the hose.

Communication between the drum withdrawal control and the filling machine control is not necessary. The two-point pressure control - in combination with the continuous pressure surge-free volume flow of the drum withdrawal pump - enables the direct connection of the product hose to the filler inlet without a buffer tank.

ViscoMT drum removal system - with a residual quantity of less than one percent © Viscotec

Plant manufacturers in the cosmetics industry are also faced with ever shorter production and throughput times. However, production planners are reaching their limits, especially when it comes to filling cosmetic pastes. It is becoming increasingly important to fill small batches of different products in a short time. Therefore, not only the cleanability but also the flexibility of the systems must be ensured. In addition to the legally prescribed standards of the cosmetics industry and those common on the market, there are also the requirements of the product. The filling line must be able to process simple mascara just as well as shear-sensitive mascara with artificial silk or nylon fibers.

Hygiene and documentation
Viscotec's filling systems are based on a modular series. The requirements of the food, cosmetics and pharmaceutical industries are mapped in various modules. Adapted to the customer's requirements in terms of hygienic design, documentation, elastomer resistance, implementation and dosing or filling volume, the optimum dispenser is put together for the respective application. These configuration options allow, for example, a variant that can be very easily dismantled (without tools), cleaned manually and autoclaved. Alternatively, the dispenser can also be connected to a CIP/SIP system and automatically cleaned and sterilized.

This means that many different products can be filled with the same dispenser - different types of mascara, but also body lotions and scrubs. The viscosity-independent dispensing principle enables precise filling even with temperature fluctuations in production. No matter which medium is to be filled, you have absolute flexibility in handling. as