A customer had previously come to us with a new application. They wanted to have their new piston pump Monobloc liquid filling machine accurately place a dip tube, or pump, into their bottle’s small neck opening and crimp the closure onto their bottle. The bottles were around 10ml and 25ml in size and glass.
Solution:
After trial and error, our technical service team came up with a solution. The dip tube/pump was to be sorted, oriented and positioned in a discharge nest. A two-axis servo driven arm would move over a filled bottle and a funnel mechanism would help guide the dip tube into the bottle. Then, two stage crimping collets would secure the dip tube/pump to the glass bottle. The heavy gauge aluminum closure requires both downward force for proper seating and a two- step crimping process to form and finish each closure.
To help you understand this process, here is a little background information:
During the crimping process, the crimping devices firmly attach the pump assemblies to the containers. This technique positions the containers in pairs below the fill nozzles while the nozzles are inserted to a point just inside the necks of the containers. By lowering the nozzles into the necks of the containers, product splashing is eliminated and foaming is minimized. During the crimping process, the tubes are guided into the mouths of the container by the funnel mechanisms which open to allow the pump to rest on the container openings. The containers are then indexed to the crimping process.
The capping technique allows for the actuator/dust cap assemblies to be loaded into the feed bowl via the chute. The pick and place mechanism then transfers two actuator/dust cap assemblies onto the containers held in position by the turret.
