As part of the bottling process for wine, a decision must be made around how the wine bottle is sealed and capped. There are a variety of options when it comes to closures…traditional cork, screw cap, synthetic cork, vinoseal, and more. In recent trends, there has been a rise in the use of screw caps, for which there are many benefits to using. For example, these benefits include less chance of oxygen permeating the bottle vs traditional corks, which lowers the percentage of tainted, or “corked,” bottles. Other benefits of screw caps include a generally higher quality and more reliable process compared to a few others, and it can end up being a more cost-effective application for the manufacturer.
Zalkin, a leading manufacturer of high-performance capping and cap handling systems, offers screw-on + roll-on capping heads which provide dual function cap applications designed specifically for the wine and spirits industries. These machines are capable of applying TOPP closures to glass bottles at speeds up to 900 cpm (54,000 cph). TOPP closures short for Torque-on Pilfer-Proof closures, feature a plastic, screw-on fitment inside an aluminum closure, allowing for twist-off and twist-on functionality. Said another way, it’s a capping solution that provides reclose convenience for the consumer as well as essential product security via roll-on tamper evident or pilfer proof band.
What’s more, these dual function screw-on + roll-on heads apply TOPP aluminum closures in a single operation, maintaining constant torque and adding efficiency to the bottling line operation. For a more visual demonstration, this one minute video shows how the Zalkin TM135 single head roll-on capper transfers the aluminum caps and highlights the precision at which the machine applies them to the glass bottles.
Roll-on sealing capping heads, like all Zalkin capping heads, are compatible with Zalkin freestanding rotary cappers, monobloc rotary capping turrets, and single head freestanding cappers. Additional machinery such articulating jaws and filler machinery can enable your production line to cap a variety of different bottles.
Not sure what kind of capping technology you need for your product? Zalkin has written an informative white paper that reviews how to choose the appropriate capping technology based on the application. Find it here! And, you can read more about Zalkin’s capping capabilities here. Screw cap sealing for wine bottles, at ProMach, We Do That!
