Plastic bottle unscramblers · rotary disc and turntable types, rate in bottles per minute, bottle diameter and height range, change parts, air supply, power and footprint, matching the filler
A bottle unscrambler takes empty plastic bottles dumped in bulk into a hopper, sorts them into single file and stands them upright, all facing the same way, ready for the rinser, filler or labeller. Ask three things first: what rate it holds with your bottles, which bottle sizes and shapes it handles and how quickly it changes over, and what air, power and floor space it needs.
Bulk unscramblers and orientors for empty plastic bottles and containers in beverage, food, personal-care, household and pharmaceutical lines: rotary disc, turntable and linear types with hoppers and elevators. Glass bottle depalletisers, vibratory bowl feeders for small parts, and fillers, cappers and labellers are outside this page except where compared.
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01
Zonesun, an unscrambler maker linked to this page, describes its ZS-LP200 as a fully automatic plastic bottle unscrambler with an elevator hopper that lifts bulk bottles, a rotary turntable that uses centrifugal force to spread and guide bottles into channels, a bottle-flipping device, and a conveyor that delivers them upright. It lists a rate of up to 200 bottles per minute for bottles of 40–90 mm diameter or width and 80–240 mm height. [1]
A dealer listing of Posimat machines gives two more reference points: the Posimat N-15 bulk container unscrambler, rated 80 to 200 containers per minute depending on materials and application, with a 48 in container accumulation disc, 14 polyethylene quick-change pockets and 14 stainless-steel 24 in funnels, a 120 in vacuum-assisted discharge conveyor and 304 stainless enclosed construction; and the Giramat B in-line 180° orientor, rated 20 to 200 bottles per minute for containers up to 5 in diameter. [2]
Editorial calculation: 200 bottles per minute is 200 × 60 = 12,000 bottles per hour. If the downstream filler runs at 150 bottles per minute, an unscrambler rated 200 gives about 200 / 150 ≈ 1.33 times the filler rate to keep the infeed conveyor full. The filler rate is an assumed example; confirm the unscrambler's rate with your own bottles, since both makers state rates depend on container and application.
Give the supplier bottle samples or drawings (material, shape, diameter or width, height, neck, weight, centre of gravity), all formats to run, required rate per format, downstream machine and conveyor height, hopper loading method, cleanliness or hygiene requirements, compressed air available, power supply, and floor space.
02
Posimat's N-15 uses pockets and funnels that snap in and out for tool-less changeover and has a digital readout of bottle count and production rate. [2] Zonesun lists 0.5–0.7 MPa compressed air, 220 V 50 Hz supply, 2.5 kW power consumption, machine dimensions of 2,900 × 1,500 × 1,500 mm and a weight of about 450 kg for the ZS-LP200. [1]
Changeover can be designed out rather than tooled. New England Machinery's US patent 7,591,367 B2 (Container unscrambler system having adjustable track) describes an unscrambler whose floor is a central portion surrounded by concentric rings, giving an overall floor diameter of about 36 inches in one embodiment, with rings about one-half inch wide and thick and the floor made of high-density polyethylene. The rings and an adjustable track form channels that can be resized to take containers of about 1-1/8 to 5 inches in cross-section, round or non-round, and the patent states that converting to a different container size does not require changing out parts such as the floor or bowl tooling. It sets the channel width and height about one-eighth inch larger than the container's cross-section so containers do not stick. [4]
Editorial calculation: 1-1/8 to 5 inches is about 29–127 mm, which spans the 40–90 mm diameter range Zonesun lists for the ZS-LP200; the one-eighth-inch clearance is about 3.2 mm. Ask whether a quoted machine changes format by adjustment or by change parts, and how long each takes. [4] [1]
Editorial note: ask for the change-part list and changeover time for each of your bottle formats, how odd-shaped or light bottles are stabilised (for example vacuum conveyors), and how jams are cleared safely.
03
Kaps-All Packaging Systems lists five unscrambler models with speeds up to 300 bottles per minute: the AU-4 compact unscrambler, the AU-3C and AU-6C unscrambler/cleaners, the FS-U unscrambling table and the AU-6E. It says its low-profile models need no compressed air and handle plastic, metal and corrugated/composite containers from 1/2 in up to 6 in tall and up to 4 in wide, with little or no change parts, and that achievable speed depends on container size and shape. [3]
Kaps-All describes the sequence as a low-profile supply hopper that elevates containers into a rotary pre-feeder bowl on demand, single-filing down an adjustable slide chute into a stand-up unit that sets bottles upright on the conveyor; its AU-3C and AU-6C also invert, ionize, vacuum-clean and then stand up the bottles. [3] Compare this with the turntable and pocket designs and the utilities listed above. [1] [2]
Editorial calculation: 1/2–6 in is about 13–152 mm tall and 4 in about 102 mm wide; 45 × 65 in is about 1.14 × 1.65 m; 300 bottles per minute is 18,000 per hour.
| Point from the Kaps-All page | Value |
|---|---|
| Top speed across its models | Up to 300 bottles per minute |
| Container height | 1/2 in to 6 in (low-profile models) |
| Container width | Up to 4 in |
| Compressed air | Not required (low-profile models) |
| AU-3C floor space | 45 in × 65 in |
| FS-U rotary table | 36 in or 48 in, for round bottles, jars and cans |
If containers must be clean before filling, ask whether cleaning (inversion, ionized air, vacuum) is built in or a separate machine, and get the rate with your smallest and largest container.
04
Suppliers linked to this page list bottle unscramblers; each card links to the page reviewed.
Listings include turntable plastic bottle unscramblers, bottle unscramblers within filling and capping lines for beverages, food, pesticides and chemicals, and unscramblers from pharmaceutical machinery makers. Ask each for rate with your bottles, size range, change parts, utilities and footprint.
05
This is a functional reference built from the sources cited; it is not one maker's specification.
| Part | Role | Fix in the order |
|---|---|---|
| Hopper and elevator | Store and lift bulk bottles. [1] | Hopper volume. |
| Disc or turntable | Spread and pocket bottles. [1] [2] | Diameter and pockets. |
| Pockets, funnels and guides | Orient bottles; change parts. [2] | Parts per format. |
| Flipping or orienting device | Stands bottles upright. [1] [2] | Method. |
| Discharge conveyor | Delivers in single file; vacuum assist. [2] [1] | Length and height. |
| Controls and counters | Rate and count. [2] | Interface with filler. |
06
An unscrambler quotation needs values for your line. The table explains each field, gives published values where a reviewed source states them, and says what to obtain from the supplier.
| Field | What it means and published values | Ask the supplier for |
|---|---|---|
| Throughput (bottles/h) | Examples: up to 200/min (12,000/h); 80–200/min. [1] [2] | Rate per format. |
| Bottle Diameter Range (mm) | Example: 40–90 mm. [1] | Range. |
| Bottle Height Range (mm) | Example: 80–240 mm. [1] | Range. |
| Orientation Accuracy (%) | Upright, same-facing output. | Reject rate. |
| Motor Power (kW) | Example: 2.5 kW. [1] | Installed power. |
| Supply Voltage (V AC) | Example: 220 V 50 Hz. [1] | Supply. |
| Air Consumption (m³/min) | Air-driven functions. | Consumption. |
| Operating Pressure (MPa) | Example: 0.5–0.7 MPa. [1] | Pressure. |
| Noise Level (dB(A)) | Line limits. | Value. |
| Operating Temperature (°C) | Plant climate. | Range. |
| Ingress Protection | Washdown. | Rating. |
| Machine Weight (kg) | Example: about 450 kg. [1] | Weight. |
| Footprint (L×W×H) (mm) | Example: 2,900 × 1,500 × 1,500 mm. [1] | Layout drawing. |
| Integrated cleaning | Example: AU-3C/AU-6C invert, ionize and vacuum-clean before stand-up. [3] | Cleaning method and whether it is included. |
07
Paste it into your enquiry below or into an email to a maker, then replace every bracket.
Bottles: [samples; material; shapes; sizes; weight] Formats: [list; rate each] Line: [downstream machine; conveyor height] Loading: [manual; bulk] Utilities: [air; power] Space: [footprint; height] Hygiene: [food; pharma; cleaning]
These companies list bottle unscramblers.
Lists the ZS-LP200 automatic plastic bottle turntable unscrambler.
Product scope checked 2026-10-11
Lists bottle unscramblers with filling and capping machines.
Product scope checked 2026-10-11
Lists bottle unscramblers among packaging machines.
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Lists bottle unscramblers with food filling machines.
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Lists bottle unscramblers with filling, capping and labelling machines.
Product scope checked 2026-10-11
Lists bottle unscramblers with packaging and filling machinery.
Product scope checked 2026-10-11
Lists bottle unscrambler machines with pesticide and chemical filling lines.
Product scope checked 2026-10-11
Lists bottle unscramblers with liquid filling machines.
Product scope checked 2026-10-11
Lists bottle unscramblers among pharmaceutical machines.
Product scope checked 2026-10-11
Lists bottle unscramblers with filling and packaging machines.
Product scope checked 2026-10-11
Lists a bottle unscrambler with beverage filling machinery.
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Explore company information and manufacturing capabilities, then discuss the scope of your project with a relevant supplier.
Examples: Zonesun's ZS-LP200 up to 200 bottles/min; Posimat's N-15 80–200 containers/min depending on material and application. [1] [2]
Zonesun lists 40–90 mm diameter and 80–240 mm height for the ZS-LP200. [1]
Posimat's N-15 uses snap-in pockets and funnels for tool-less changeover. [2]
No. Kaps-All states its low-profile unscramblers require no air, while Zonesun lists 0.5–0.7 MPa compressed air for its ZS-LP200; check the utilities of the model you are quoted. [3] [1]
New England Machinery's US patent 7,591,367 B2 describes adjustable floor rings and track that take containers of about 1-1/8 to 5 inches without changing the floor or bowl tooling. [4]
Sources checked 2026-10-12. Zonesun is an unscrambler maker describing its own machine; the Posimat figures come from a used-equipment dealer's listing of Posimat machines. Both are examples, not limits for other makes. New England Machinery's US patent 7,591,367 B2 describes an adjustable-track unscrambler.
Ask for use case, specification boundaries, supplier type, and RFQ preparation information for this product.
Compare manufacturer profiles with relevant product and process capability.