The can seaming machine has undoubtedly revolutionised the food and beverage production process, and it has helped many food and beverage manufacturing facilities benefit from faster production as well as enhanced quality control.
With can seamers, facilities and factories can now produce a lot more of their items and products, fulfilling the demand of their customers, and they can be sure that their food and beverage items are tamper and leakproof as well.
But if you have your eye on a can seamer and would like to make sure that you are choosing the best kind for your needs, you need to know the various types of can seaming machines. Here, your top questions are answered.
Automatic and semi-automatic
There are automatic and semi-automatic can seamers, and the fully automatic ones are designed to handle larger volumes. Since they are fully automatic, you don’t need many operators to run the machine – all an operator needs to do is supply the can’s lids to the machine, and they can do this in bulk.
The semi-automatic can seamer, on the other hand, is designed more for smaller production demands, and the operator can initiate the process with the use of a footswitch. Some semi-automatic can seamers can be operated with a finger as well.
The machine will usually just seal a single tin at a time, which makes it ideal for smaller operations or even for use at home.
The design of the machine
Can seaming machines such as the ones from Pneumatic Scale Angelus can also be chosen according to their design, which includes either rotary or non-rotary.
The rotary seamer can perform the operation as the tins rotate or spin on their axis, and you will often see automatic seaming machines with a rotary design, allowing them to seal tins at faster speeds. Rotary designed machines, therefore, are ideal for larger operations.
Additionally, the rotary design is mostly suitable for the seaming of round-shaped tins, and they can feature as many as 18 seamer heads, which revolve around one seamer head.
The non-rotary seaming machine design is built in such a way that the tins can stay stationary whilst the process is ongoing. With this, you can avoid damaging the tins and whatever they contain inside.
This makes them perfect, therefore, for the packaging of liquid products in order to prevent the spilling of the inside contents.
As mentioned, the rotary design is usually utilised for round-shaped cans, but the non-rotary design is often used for other tin shapes such as rectangular, oblong, and oval. Most of the semi-automatic seaming machines we see today feature a non-rotary design.
How it works
The can seaming machine works by creating a reliable seam (usually a double seam) to make a tin leak-proof.
With double seaming, the machine can attach the lid to the body of the tin in three phases or stages: first, with compression, then the first seaming roller operation, and then the second seaming roller operation.
Note that when you set up your can seaming machine, you need to perform several adjustments of different settings so you can produce the best kind of seam for your tins.
If you don’t follow this properly, it can result in unexpected stops in the production line and even bad seaming.