Bottling line for ice wine

Ice Wine.JPG

A relocated bottling line at Diamond Estates Winery (formerly 20 Bees Winery), Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON, runs a wide variety of wines in bottles ranging from 200 mL to 1.5L. The 20 Bees Winery opened in 2005 and was acquired by Diamond Estates Wines & Spirits Ltd. in 2008. The bottling line was moved to the 20 Bees facility shortly after the acquisition, and the plant, which produces 150,000 to 180,000 cases/year, is now the central production facility for Diamond Estates.

"The line has worked out well for us since we moved it," says Tom Green, vp, winemaking and winery operations. "We run 200-, 375-, 500- and 750-mL as well as 1- and 1.5-L bottles on the line plus a variety of bottle shapes and label-brand designs. Changeover is relatively easy. We are looking into building a new phase-two addition to our facility, and at that time we will probably install a new bottling line."

Monobloc rinser/sparger/filler

Empty bottle

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The water draining from the bottle is collected in a trough and can be recirculated or discharged to the drain. At the end of the water injection zone, there is a dripping period followed by an air blow to remove any residual water and to dry the neck finish of the bottle. As the bottle approaches the exit starwheel, the gripping device returns it to an upright orientation, after which it leaves the rinser. 

The bottles then enter a single-head sparging unit that vacuums the air from the bottle and injects nitrogen. This minimizes oxygen contact during filling. 

The next unit in the monobloc system is a 16-head rotary filler, that can

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The bottle finish seals against the bottom of the valve, and the incoming wine flows through an opening in the filling valve and runs down the walls of the container. At the same time, the air or inert gas in the container escapes through an opening in the top of the valve. This air opening functions as an overflow valve and sets the fill level in the bottle. 

The bottles exit the filler through a starwheel and travel to a turret that contains both a corker and a capper that applies aluminium screw caps. The operator turns the turret to the head he is running that day. 

Corks and caps travel down a channel to the application head. If the line is running corked bottles, the corks enter the unit's compressor jaws, where a cam squeezes the cork and a punch pushes it into the mouth of the bottle. The plant uses either synthetic or natural corks, which are supplied by Cork Supply USA. 

If they are running screw caps, the caps are aligned in a vibratory hopper and travel down the chute to the point where they are applied to the bottles by a single spinning head. 

The bottles then travel to a Nortan S.r.l. rotary capsule applicator, where the corked bottles receive a PVC or poly-laminate capsule. The capsules, which are supplied by Janson Capsule Co., travel on a belt into rotating cups that place them onto the bottles as they enter the applicator. If the plant is running PVC capsules, the bottles enter a revolving turret that is equipped with three heat-shrink heads. If they are running poly-laminate capsules, the bottles enter a turret equipped with three spinner heads. Bottles that are closed with aluminum capsules (ROPP) bypass the Nortan unit.

Servo-driven labeler

From the capsule applicator, the bottles are conveyed to a Vac Modular labeler from Impresstik Labeling Systems. The machine is a PLC-controlled, servo-driven

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In an unusual arrangement, the rolls of film for the front and back labels are mounted on the same side of the machine and the labels are picked up by a vacuum belt as they are stripped from the web. 

The front and back labels alternate on the vacuum belt. In this operation, the front and back labels can come from a single roll of film or they can come from separate rolls. The bottles rotate as they travel with the belt and pick up the labels, which are wiped as they leave the belt section to ensure total adhesion. 

The neck labels are applied from a separate roll at the exit end of the vacuum belt. The bottle continues to rotate at this point, so the neck label can be applied with the ends over-lapping. The vacuum belt and the neck label applicator are servo driven, and this, plus the HMI linked to the PC, enables the operator to adjust the placement of the labels on the bottles to within +/-1 mm. This can be done while the machine is operating.

Labeled bottled travel past a Videojet Technologies Inc. Series 3120 laser printer that applies a date code. Workers manually place the bottles in shipping cases, after which they pass through a 3M-Matic case sealer from 3M that tapes the tops of the cases. The cases are then manually palletized. The line runs 3,000 bottles/hr.

Diamond Estates worked with the Criveller Co. in assembling the line. The Criveller Co. represents Fimer and Nortan and supplied these pieces of equipment. They also provided design and engineering services for the project.

More information is available:

3M, 888/364-3577. www.3m.com
ASL Print FX, 800/263-2368. www.aslprintfx.com
Cork Supply USA, 707/746-0353. www.corksupplyusa.com
Criveller Group, 888/849-2266. www.criveller.com
Fimer, +39 0141 823 404. www.fimer.it
Imprestik Labelling Systems, 707/291-2803.
www.impresstiklabelers.com
Janson Capsule Co. 334/742-0005.
www.jansoncapsules.com
Nortan S.r.l., +39 0442 47844. www.nortan.it
Videojet Technologies Inc.,
800/843-3610. www.videojet.com