Bottle Filling Machine | Best Bottle Filler (2023)

The Ultimate Guide To Bottle Filling Machine

If you are a company that deals in the packaging of products in liquid, granular, or powder form, you will want to buy a bottle filling machine that is most suitable for your bottling requirements.

The packaging of any company’s product plays a crucial role in attracting customers and keeping the contents safe from contamination. Besides, packaging makes it convenient to transport products in a hygienic environment.

With so many product catalogs online, it can get confusing as to which bottle filling machine to purchase. Whether you are experienced in the field and are looking for an upgrade or are about to make your first bottle filling machine purchase, you will find this guide valuable.

This ultimate guide shows you all you need to know about bottle filling machines from what they are and their components, their applications, the working principles, the different types of bottle filling machines, and what to look for when selecting a bottle filling machine.

Read on.

Here’s a quick run of what this article covers:

What Is A Bottle Filling Machine?

The Components Of A Bottle Filling Machine

Types Of Bottle Filling Machines

Level Of Automation

• Automatic bottle filling machines
• Semi-automatic filling machines
• Manual bottle filling machines

The Type Of Liquid Bottling Machine

• Free-flowing liquid bottle filling machines

• Viscous liquid bottle filling machines

Inline & Rotary Bottle Filler

• Inline bottle filler

• Rotary bottle filler

Filling Types

• Overflow filler
• Volumetric filler

• Vacuum filler
• Pump Filler

Types of Products Filling

1. Liquid bottle filling machine
2. Powder bottle filling machine
3. Granular filling machine
4. Jam filling machine

Types of Containers

1. Bottle filling machine
2. Can filling packing machine
3. Jar filling machine

Applicated Products

1. Water Filling Machine
2. Juice Filling Machine
3. Oil Bottle Filling Machine
4. Chemical Filling Machine

Auxiliary Filling Equipment For the Bottle Filling Line

• Bottle Cap Sealer
• Bottle Leak Detection Equipment
• Labeling Machine
• Printer
• Shrink Wrap Machine
• Categories of Conveyors

Conclusion

What Is A Bottle Filling Machine?

As a manufacturer, you may produce products in a variety of states; oily, free-flowing, creamy, granules, or powders. A bottle filling machine helps in the industrial packaging of those products into bottles. You need a bottle filling machine to complete your industrial bottling line.

Bottle filling machines are essential in industries that deal with pharmaceuticals, food, beverages, agrochemicals, and industrial detergents.

Bottle filling machines are designed with components that receive those products and pack them into bottles. The machine is equipped with a measuring mechanism that ensures the correct quantities be released into the bottles.

The machine also has a capping mechanism to secure the contents once the bottles have been filled. Additionally, they label the bottles and print vital details such as the date of manufacture.

Bottle filling machines can be categorized using multiple criteria and can fill containers of various shapes and sizes.

The Components Of A Bottle Filling Machine

The components of a bottle filling machine may differ from one machine type to another. Nonetheless, there are some parts common to most bottle-filling machines.

1. Machine Pivot Wheels

You need pivot wheels to help you move the machine to your preferred location.

1. The Start Pedal Or Switcher

The start pedal or switcher is a device that is used to switch on the machine.

1. The Collection Tank

The liquid collection tank acts as a holding area for the product that awaits filling into bottles.

1. The Discharge Hopper

The discharge hopper directs the product from the liquid tank into the filling head. Depending on the machine, the dosing of the product into the filling head may be achieved manually by operators or automatically through mechanized bulk feeders.

Contents in the discharge hopper are measured into the required volumes. After that, the product is funneled down into the filling heads.

There are products that have difficulty flowing unless the temperature is warm. If you deal with such products, there are discharge hoppers that are equipped with a heating mechanism that discharges hot water to encourage the flow of products down the filling heads.

1. Inlet Solenoid Valve

This valve controls the product flow through the filler taps and into the filling heads.

1. Filling Heads/Filler Taps

The filler heads or taps dose the product that’s being packaged into the bottle. They release measured contents into the container.

1. Support Trays & Levels

The bottle support trays and tray start levers provide mechanical support to the bottles as the filling process progresses.

1. Corking Unit

This unit “corks” bottles that have been dosed with the product by placing caps or lids to secure the contents and prevent spillage.

1. The Machine’s Mechanical Drive System

This is the overall mechanism responsible for the synchronized movement of the bottle filling machine. The system ensures that the release of products is perfectly sequenced with the movement of bottles.

The system can be operated by a motor and gear system. For instance, the Corking Unit Ratio motor synchronizes to ensure every bottle on the line receives the product before it is capped.

1. Movement Sensors

The bottle filling machine has sensors that guide the dosing of products into bottles. Sensors ensure that products are only released by the filler heads if there is a corresponding bottle awaiting products. This way, the sensor helps prevent spillage of products hence waste reduction.

Sensors ensure the filling process runs safely and with precision.

Programmable Logic Controllers (PLC)

This is like the brain behind the entire bottle-filling operation. It is a set of programmable computers that drive the automation of the bottle packaging process. A raft of inbuilt computers provides the artificial intelligence necessary to regulate the fill rates, product volumes, and other programmable functions.Human operators monitor and manipulate the PLC system using a human-machine interface.

The Human-Machine Interface (HMI)

The bottle filling machine provides monitors that are mostly touch screens for operators to manipulate the operations of the machine or monitor its performance.The human-machine interface in some machines is button-driven. A user-friendly HMI makes it easy for operators to learn to work with the machine. HMI that is based on imagery traverses language barriers.

1. The Machine Electrical Power Supply

The machine comes with an inbuilt electrical panel.

Types Of Bottle Filling Machines

Bottle filling machines can be categorized depending on several parameters:

1. Level Of Automation

• Automatic Bottle Filling Machines

Automatic bottle filling machines work with minimal human input. They’re ideal for a massive industrial operator due to their high bottling rates. They can fill and seal thousands of packages within seconds or a few minutes.

• Components Of Automatic Bottle Filling Machine

• Automatic discharge hoppers

They automatically funnel the product from the collection tank to the bottles through the filling head. They are highly mechanized and operate at high speeds to support large-scale production.

• Filling head

Acts as taps that release the product into the bottle. The process is fully automated. These machines provide for the addition of extra filling heads to achieve greater output.

• A power conveyor system

A power conveyor system allows for the automated movement of the product through the system to fill the containers and dispatch them to the receiving receptacle.

• PLC control systems

The machine is integrated with a PLC control system that allows the operator to manipulate the machine to their desired configuration. They can input the desired production rate, volume per container, and container type.

• Human-Machine Interface

Touch screen monitors allow the operator to input the desired output parameters and also to monitor the performance of the machine during production.

• Working Principle Of Automatic Bottle Filling Machines

A fully automated bottle filling machine works at a very high speed. It is best suited for a busy industrial firm that processes a large number of bottles. If you run a large-scale industrial plant, you need to buy an automatic bottle filling machine.

The working principles of automatic bottle filling machines differ. This is because different automatic bottle filling machines use different filling mechanisms to function.

We will discuss the different bottle-filling mechanisms later in this article.

Regardless of the filing mechanism, the bottom line is that all automatic bottle-filling machines automate the whole bottle-filling process.

The machines automatically achieve;

• Filling of the liquid into the tank
• Measuring the product for accuracy
• Releasing the measured product into the bottle
• Capping the bottle to prevent spillage of the packaged product
• Labeling the bottle
• Conveying the bottle sway from the machine

An automatic bottle filling machine allows for the adjustment of the filling rate, filling volume, or container type at the click of a button.

• Prons & Cons

Pros of Bottle Automatic Filling Machines

• Easy To Use

Automatic bottle filling machines come with a human-machine interface that makes it simple to set and run the machine. Besides, cleaning and maintenance are simple.

1. Efficient Performance

Automated bottle filling machines are faster compared to manual bottle filling machines or filling bottles by hand.

The production speed can be increased with the installation of multiple filler heads.

1. Cost-Effective

Fully automated bottle filling machines perform the entire job with limited input from humans. This lowers your labor costs.

Furthermore, the accuracy of the machines in the filling process minimizes the wastage of products.

1. Versatility

Automatic bottle filling machines are versatile and can be easily modified to handle bottles of varying sizes and shapes. Besides, they can be modified to fill liquids from the

Such adaptability makes it possible for a manufacturer to invest in a single adjustable automatic bottle filling machine for a whole range of products that they produce.

1. Hygienic Packaging

Automatic bottle filling machines are made from stainless steel that is ideal for packaging foodstuffs and pharmaceuticals. There is also no human contact with the products.

Cons of Automatic Bottle Filling Machines

• High Initial Purchase Price

Powerful fully automated bottling machines are a costly investment. However, they result in increased productivity which makes business sense.

• Costly To Operate Due To High Power Consumption

High-powered automatic bottle filling machines consume a lot of power.

• Requires Specialized Expertise To Run

Although bottle filling machines are equipped with a human interface that makes it easy to set and operate the machine, it requires that staff be trained to operate the machines optimally.

You may need to invest in employee training and have an in-house technician to help in the maintenance of the machine.

• Semi-automatic filling machines

• Components of a Semi-automatic Bottle Filling Machine

They have components that are similar to the automatic bottle filling machines except for the power conveyors that automatically move the bottles from one stage of filling to the next.

The filling head may entail a syringe or nozzle design to minimize wastage during the dosage of the product into the bottles.

Here is a listing of the components in a semi-automatic bottle filling machine:

• Automatic discharge hoppers
• Filling head
• PLC control systems (less sophisticated compared to those of a fully automated bottling unit)
• Human-machine Interface
• Working Process

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NQivKKFmZqo

The main difference with the automatic bottle filling machine is the manual processes in the system.

An operator positions the container below the filling head for the dosage of the product. They then flip on a switch to initiate the process of filling the container.

Once filled, the operator manually moves the container to the subsequent stage of the packaging workflow.

The level of automation varies with the sophistication of the semi-automatic bottle filling machine. For some machines, the operator monitors and refills the collection tank with the product before it is discharged into the filling head.

• Pros & Cons

Pros of Semi-automatic Bottle Filling Machines

• They are much faster than manual bottle filling machines. Semi-automatic bottle filling machines can fill up close to 15 standard-size bottles in a minute.
• They are suitable for medium and small processing firms that may not require a huge processing capacity. Tabletop liquid filling machines may be sufficient for the filling needs of small enterprises.
• Cost less when compared with fully automatic bottle filling machines. Smaller firms with a smaller budget can afford to acquire the machine in place of manual bottling machines.
• Require less room to operate the machine
• Consume less power during operation.

Cons of Semi-automatic Bottle Filling Machines

• They are slower compared to automatic bottle filling machines making them unsuitable for high-scale production facilities.
• They still depend on some level of manual input making them less effective. The pace of production will depend on the speed of the human operator who is required to move containers by hand.

• Manual Bottle Filling Machines

Manual bottle filling machines are operated by hand and can function in places without electricity.

• Components Of A Manual Bottle Filling Machine
• A manually filled collection tank
• A discharge hopper
• A hand-operated bottle filler

• Working Process

The operator drives the manual liquid dispenser to fill the containers being packaged. The entire process is operated by hand.

• Pros & Cons

Pros Of A Manual Bottle Filling Machine

• Suitable for small-scale bottling needs such as laboratories.
• Can function in areas that have no or unstable access to electricity.
• Are faster than filling bottles by hand and can fill over 100 containers per hour.
• Low initial purchasing costs make it affordable to small-scale producers.

Cons Of A Manual Bottle Filling Machine

• Low production speed
• Inconsistencies in bottling as it is manually driven

1. The Type Of Liquid

Liquid viscosity determines the filling mechanism.

A liquid that flows freely like water is said to have low viscosity while a thick liquid that flows with difficulty possesses high viscosity.

Some bottle filling machines are more appropriate for free-flowing liquids. Others are more suitable for highly viscous liquids.

Take a closer look at liquids with differing levels of viscosity.

Free-flowing bottle filling machines consist of machines that operate by the following mechanisms;

• The overflow filler
• Gravity filler
• Working Process

Let’s consider the working mechanisms for the filling machines that are most appropriate for free-flowing liquids.

• The Overflow Filling Machine

The overflow filler employs a nozzle to inject free-flowing products into awaiting containers. It functions by letting the liquid reach a particular level in the container that is being filled.

Any excess amount that surpasses the predetermined level in the container overflows back to the supply source.

• The Gravity Filler

The working mechanism of a gravity filler is anchored on a time-sensitive cycle.

This involves the opening and closing of valves to release a defined quantity of fluid into the awaiting containers. The valves are timed to dose products from a collection tank into awaiting containers via the filling heads.

After the valves have opened and filled the bottle below, they close. After that, the conveyor system removes the filled bottle while bringing in the next empty bottle. The bottle is positioned below the filling heads. The valves are timed to open only when the empty container has been correctly positioned below the filling heads.

• Pros & Cons

The benefit is that these machines are efficient when filling free-flowing liquids. However, it’s not suitable to use such a filling mechanism to fill highly viscous liquid.

In other words, you may need to buy extra machines or components if your company packages a mix of free-flowing and highly viscous fluids.

• Viscous Liquid Bottle Filling Machines

Here are the bottle filling machines for viscous liquids. Liquids that are highly viscous include pastes, honey, butter, and creams.

Categories of bottle filling machines that fill high viscous liquids:

1. Piston filling machines
2. Pump filling machines
3. Vacuum liquid fillers

We will discuss how these machines work in the section that classifies bottle-filling machines based on their Filling Mechanisms.

1. Machine Layout

• Inline Bottle Filler

The inline bottle filler comprises filling up bottles that are moved by a power conveyor system in a continuous line.

This machine configuration is simple to operate and the operator can easily make adjustments to suit their requirements.

Inline bottle fillers are cost-effective. That’s because it is easy to detect and fix an error while the machine runs. As a result, you are able to save the product and the containers from wastage.

A rotary system, on the other hand, runs faster and is more sophisticated making the detection of errors more challenging. Fixing run errors with a rotary-based machine layout can cause lots of machine downtimes and affect a tight production schedule. An inline layout allows for quick fixing of run errors.

You can scale your production with some inline bottle fillers by mounting additional filling heads to fill up more bottles in a shorter time. Typically, inline bottle fillers will consist of between 4 and 20 head fillers.

Inline bottle filling machines are appropriate for small to medium filling companies.

• Rotary Bottle Filler.

Rotary bottle fillers are more sophisticated and run faster than inline liquid fillers. This makes them suitable for large-scale producers who run colossal production lines.

The output of rotary bottle fillers is massive with some machines having filling heads in their hundreds.

In production, bigger is better until you come to troubleshooting and fixing compilations that may occur in the course of a run. Since these machines are superfast, a large number of containers is affected whenever a production line runs into headwinds. The potential for wastage can be huge.

These machines require more skilled manpower to operate and consume a lot of power which they compensate for with huge production.

1. Filling Mechanism

• Overflow Filler

As the name suggests, overflow filling machines fill up bottles with similar levels of liquid with the extra liquid overflowing back into the collection tank.

Ideal for filling free-flowing liquids that are of low viscosity.

• Volumetric filler

Volumetric fillers fill the bottle using the working mechanisms of volumetric filling. They can be further classified into;

1. Gravity fillers

Gravity filers depend on gravity for the flow of the product from the collection tank to the containers through the filler nozzles. The flow is timed so that a predetermined amount of liquid is filled into the container.

Gravity fillers work well with free-flowing liquids that flow uniformly over a given time. Highly viscous products that do not flow easily are unsuitable for filling with gravity fillers.

1. Piston fillers

Piston fillers can work for highly viscous liquids and free-flowing ones. The products are pushed by the use of pistons to the awaiting container via the filling ducts.

The piston has a constant volume that enhances accuracy in measuring the liquid being pushed into the container. Due to the pushing action of the piston filler, the machine can be used for slow-flowing fluids that may contain sizeable particles.

• Vacuum Filler

Vacuum filler machines are appropriate for slow-flowing fluids such as pastes.

The machine makes use of a vacuum pump to retrieve paste-like products from the machine’s discharge hopper via a vane cell feed system.

• Pump Filler

Pump fillers are ideal for products of high viscosity such as gels, thick oils, and creams. They push provides that are highly resistant to flow enabling them to fill up bottles consistently.

Pump fills have two main working mechanisms;

• Pump based fills
• Time-based fills.

• Net Weight filler

With a net weight filling machine, the operator sets a predetermined weight on the machine. As the product fills, the weighing scale confirms that the set weight has been attained.

Use a net weight filler for filling and bottling liquid containers of high value. Accurately weighing contents ensures minimal wastage of product through overfilling. This filler is most suitable for containers that carry weight labels.

• Auger Filler

If you specialize in filling granulated materials, or powdery substances, consider using auger filler machines.

They dispense bulk materials from the holding container using a rotating screw through filler heads and into the bottle that awaits filling. Auger fillers are perfect for packagers looking for accurate volumetric fills.

• Small scale

As the name suggests, these are small-scale filling machines that usually come with filling, capping, and labeling functions. Suitable for small to medium-sized firms in the bottle-filling business.

• Gallon filling machine

Gallon filling machines are appropriate for filling semi-bulky and bulky containers such as 10-25 liter gallons. Mineral water bottling companies find these machines very valuable for their packaging needs.

• Status of Products Filling

• Liquid bottle filling machine

These machines specialize in filling containers with flowing liquids from free-flowing, to highly viscous liquids.

• Powder bottle filling machine

They are designed to fill bottles with powdery substances.

• Granular filling machine

They fill containers with granular products such as fertilizer, and rice.

• Jam filling machine

Jam filling machines specialize in filling containers with paste-like substances such as sauce, and jams of various types.

1. Types of Containers

Bottle filling machines may also be categorized by the type of container the machine is made to fill.

• Bottle filling machine

Pharmaceuticals and food processing companies use bottle filling machines to industrially fill liquids, granular products, and powders into bottles.

• Can filling packing machine

The can filling and sealing machines fill easily flowing contents into cans, or drums for onward delivery to customers.

• Jar filling machine

Jar filling machines come in a variety of designs but fill up jars with free-flowing and moderately viscous products.

1. Applicated Products

• Water Filling Machine

Low Cost Water Business | Water Bottle Filling Machine | Mineral Water Plant Water Filling

There are varieties of water filling machines that employ different filling technologies to achieve their function.

Since water is a free-flowing liquid, Water filling machines come in multiple designs to fill, seal, and label water bottles;

• Flowmeter filling machines
• Weight filling machines
• Mechanical gravity filler machines
• Vacuum filling machines

• Juice Filling Machine

Soda Filling Machine, Carbonated Soft Drink Filling Machine, beverage filling machine manufacturers

Most juices are usually of low to medium viscosity. Occasionally, there are juices that foam when being handled while other juices contain pulpy matter. Most juice filling machines will employ a range of technologies that are best suited depending on the nature of the product that you are handling.

Here are the common fruit juice filling technologies;

• Overflow juice filling machines
• Time flow juice filling machines
• Piston-based juice filling machines; are ideal for paste-like juices or those with a pulpy matter in the liquid.

• Oil Bottle Filling Machine

musturd oil bottle filling machine

Oil has a higher viscosity when compared with most liquids. Oil filling machines, therefore, are adapted to filling bottles with oil products.m

• Chemical Filling Machine

Pesticides Liquid Filling Machine , Agro Chemical liquid filling machine

Chemical filling machines deal with chemicals that may react with several surfaces. Packaging of chemicals such as acids and alkaline products requires that the chemical filling machine does not react with the product that is being packaged.

Chemicals may range from industrial lab solvents, paints, herbicides, acids, and detergents.

That means the chemical filling machines will be made of varying materials depending on what you intend to package. Contact your manufacturer with details of what you intend to package as you make your order.

Apart from reactivity, chemicals also come with varying viscosities with some chemicals flowing freely while others are grossly sticky. Other chemicals may be hazardous on exposure and may require further specialization to ensure a safe filling and sealing environment.

Auxiliary Filling Equipment For the Bottle Filling Line

• Bottle Cap Sealer

A bottle cap sealer is a vital addition to your bottling line. Most industrial packaging will require the use of an automated bottle cap sealer that is incorporated into the assembling line for a seamless filling and sealing process.

Small operators may use manual cap sealers for their capping needs but those are unsuitable for a mid-to-large scale industrial bottling plant.

• Bottle Leak Detection Equipment

In a fast-paced industrial bottling plant associated with automated bottle filling machines, bottles with defects may end up on the assembly line.

Including a “Bottle Leak Detection Equipment” helps forestall wastage and ensures the safety of your products when being stored and transported. Moreover, some contents such as chemicals may cause a corrosive effect if a leakage goes undetected on completion of the bottle filling process.

• Labelling Machine

An automatic labeling machine is an essential inclusion in the bottling line as it helps brand products for the market. A great product requires equally attractive packaging.

Labeling also indicates the quantity of the product held.

• Printer

Printers help print lots of essential information on your bottle; date of manufacture, barcodes, expiry date, and more.

Printers may be laser-jet printers or ink-jet printers.

Printers are especially important when you deal with date-sensitive products. In most jurisdictions, it is a requirement for products to have a date of manufacture and a “best before” date highlighted on the container.

• Shrink Wrap Machine

A shrink wrap machine helps to shrink the box or bag so that it conforms to the container that directly handles the product. Shrinkwrapping products help to save on space during transportation and storage and also give the product a natural shape.

• Categories of Conveyors

A conveyor system provides the mechanism that moves and secures your bottles as the bottling process proceeds. Without a conveyor system, automation of the bottling system will be close to impossible.

There are various categories of conveyor systems that your industrial bottling plant can adopt.

• Belt conveyors; are the most common that work on a pulley system within a closed-loop to move items around.
• Chain conveyors
• Drag conveyor
• Bucket conveyors; are vertical conveyors that move products up and down.
• Automotive conveyors
• Aero-mechanical conveyors; operate based on centrifugal forces and can be extremely fast.
• Pneumatic conveyors; make use of air pressure to move solid items over the assembly line.
• Cable conveyors
• Screw conveyors; the working mechanism makes use of a helical blade that agitates fluids within a tube.

• Bottle Rinsing Machine

Bottle rinsing machines clean bottles by use of spray nozzles to ensure hygienic packaging and the non-contamination of products.

Bottle clamps lock the bottles in place as they are turned around while the spray nozzles eject water to rinse the bottles on the assembly line.

Conclusion

This ultimate guide has covered all the important aspects of bottle-filling machines. With this information, you can make an informed decision when selecting the correct type of bottle filling machine for your industrial plant.

From this guide we have learned;

• What a bottle filling machine is
• The components of a bottle filling machine
• Categorization of bottle filling machines by filling mechanism, machine layout, container type, the status of products being filled, type of liquid, and applied products.
• The working mechanisms of various bottle filling machines
• The auxiliary filling equipment for the bottle filling line

Purchasing a bottle filling machine is a serious investment and you need to get it right. Ensure the machine you intend to buy matches your current and future industrial packaging needs. You need to train employees so they can operate the machines effectively. Lastly, deal with a reputable machine manufacturer who is known to produce quality goods and has positive client reviews from previous clients.