drinktec visitors saw the latest from Arol, a business unit of Angelus Sanitary Can, including their new servo capping machine, the Equatorque. Equipped with ELAU’s PacDrive SCL integral servo motor/drives on each capping head, the Equatorque eliminates clutches to maximize flexibility and assure consistently accurate closing torque.

To assure quality, each capping head performs a torque self-calibration with every cycle. A sophisticated monitoring system detects closing faults automatically, including no cap, cap at incorrect angle, no container and rotation of container. A simple operation sets optimum cap/container/closing torque configurations, and adjustments can be made remotely. The ELAU diagnostic capabilities let packagers perform scheduled maintenance on the basis of actual work performed by the machine.

“The unique distributed servosystem reduces electrical cabinet size, simplifies electrical connections to the rotary table, and provides both IP67 sealing and chemical resistance for the motor/drives,” summarizes Denis Ruffino, Chief Electronic Engineer for Arol.

The Equatorque is available with up to 42 servo capping heads, each capable of a maximum production speed of 2,400 bph. All Equatorque cappers use the same software application, providing a common look and feel for operators, programmers and maintenance personnel.