Automated bottle capping machine for crimped, rolled-on and corked closures

01

Set the top and side loads for roll-on caps

A roll-on head forms the closure on the bottle. Metal Closures Limited's patent application EP0005934A1 describes shaping the skirt of an unthreaded metal closure shell into conformity with the bottle thread using profiled thread rollers while the shell is pressed down on the bottle mouth. [2] Tedelta's CR-504-ST roll-on head, for aluminium, pilfer-proof and roll-on caps on glass and PET bottles, threads caps from 18 mm to 38 mm diameter with two skirting rollers, two threading rollers and a set top load, and stops rolling when no cap is detected to avoid neck damage. [3]

Ball Corporation's European patent EP3497050B1 on sealing bottles quantifies the loads. It states that glass bottles sealed with ROPP closures on similar apparatus receive a cumulative load of at least 227 kg (500 pounds), and that capping aluminium bottles reduces this to about 172 kg (380 pounds) with a range of ±5%, because aluminium bottles are more prone to deformation or collapse. [1]

For a known capping apparatus on aluminium bottles, the patent gives a nominal topload of about 113 kg (250 pounds) and a sideload of about 39 kg (86 pounds), leaving less than about 14 kg (30 pounds) of margin before the failure threshold. Its method limits the cumulative force to no more than about 145 kg (320 pounds), with a topload not above about 91 kg (200 pounds) and sideloads per roller not above about 14 kg (30 pounds) for thread rollers and 16 kg (35 pounds) for pilfer rollers. [1] Editorial calculation: 113 kg plus 39 kg is about 152 kg, the nominal load of the known apparatus.

Editorial note: ask the machine supplier for the top load and roller loads set for your bottle, glass or aluminium, and for how they are adjusted and checked at changeover.

Give the supplier the closure type and size (crown, ROPP, cork or bar-top), bottle material, neck finish drawing and height range, the load limits the bottle maker states, output in bottles per hour, cap feeding method, and the checks needed (missing cap, crimp or seal check).

02

Match the machine to the crown, ROPP cap or cork

Crowns are sized by diameter. Vigo Ltd lists crown caps of 26 mm diameter and champagne crown caps of 29 mm diameter, and sells stainless steel gauges with pass and fail holes, in 26 mm and 29 mm versions, for checking during capping that each crown has been adequately applied. [5]

Corks are pressed into the bottle. ZONESUN lists its ZS-XG440K automatic wine bottle corking machine with a rotary turret of 8 capping heads, about 6,000 bottles per hour, bottle heights of about 70 to 260 mm, machine power of 1.5 kW plus 0.18 kW, and a footprint of about 5750 × 3100 × 3500 mm including cap elevator and vibratory bowl sorter. [4] Editorial calculation: 6,000 bottles per hour over 8 heads is 750 bottles per head per hour, one bottle every 4.8 seconds per head.

Editorial note: crown, ROPP and cork machines use different heads, cap feeds and checks, so a machine changing between closure types needs the change parts listed in the quotation.

03

Crown, ROPP, Stelvin or cork: closure types per machine

Ask each supplier which closure types and sizes the machine applies, how top load and roller pressure are set, and which caps and bottles it was tested with.

04

Cap feed, roll-on head, crowning head and corker on one turret

05

For ROPP, top and roller loads replace a torque figure

06

Send the bottle, closure and output data together

Paste it into your enquiry below or into an email to a maker, then replace every bracket.

Bottle: [glass or aluminium; neck finish; height; load limits]
Closure: [crown 26 or 29 mm; ROPP size; cork or bar-top]
Output: [bottles per hour; number of heads]
Feeding: [cap elevator; sorter]
Checks: [missing cap; crimp or seal check; reject]
Utilities: [voltage; compressed air]

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