During the Corona pandemic, Metallatelier GmbH managed to optimize a special machine small series for the automatic screwing of caps of different disinfectant container types in a short time by means of standard components. ACE contributed with machine elements to this further development.


First, David Fuchs, founder of Metallatelier, and his team succeeded in 2006 in providing a manufacturer of cleaning agents with a special machine for hitherto unknown flexibility and fail-safety in the automated screwing of bottles. Thus the Universal Screwdriver 1.0 was born. word had spread throughout the industry that this design featured a unique screw cap assembly device that automated the safe capping of a wide variety of detergent bottles, including those with pump spray heads. When the new beta coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 broke out in 2020 and disinfectants could not be produced fast enough, the Bilgram Chemie company asked the metal workshop if a follow-up series could be ordered on short notice. Whereas in 2006 the invention was about speeding up handling and reducing the workload of the operating personnel, in 2020 the focus was on the one hand on increasing the speed of production. "On the other hand, it was necessary to make the entire machine even more variable and, at the same time, faster adaptable to new closures and belt heights, because our new customer primarily wanted to fill small vials with manual disinfection on the three special machines," says David Fuchs, describing part of the new requirements.


More performance through the use of high-tech components

To achieve these goals, the new design uses the basic operating principle of its predecessor: the bottles are fixed in place by two clamping jaws covered with ethylene-propylene-diene (monomer) rubber (EPDM) centrally under the screwing mechanism. Four gripper rollers grip the cap and tighten it until the defined torque is reached. Small shock absorbers are used not only to brake the pneumatic slide, but also to determine the end position of the gripping mechanism by means of the damper position, thus adjusting the machine to screw caps of different sizes. As a rule, the carriage does not travel to the end position, but is stopped beforehand by two small shock absorbers placed at the bottom. A small shock absorber at the top ensures that the carriage does not have to travel to its end position every time, but is stopped when the gripper rollers are open far enough for the screwed cap to be conveyed onwards, thus saving time.

In addition to other innovations, new designs were required for braking the carriage in the end positions. Whereas in the previous model small shock absorbers of the type MC150EUMH from ACE were used in the upper and lower end positions, David Fuchs and his team rethought the damping of the system in 2020: "While we continue to work with the self-adjusting type MC150EUMH in the upper end position, we now use two hydraulic dampers of the type MC150EUM at the bottom. The difference is that the upper damper is dimensioned for larger effective masses of 8.6 kg to 86 kg, while the ones used below are suitable for mass forces of 0.9 kg to 10 kg. The symmetrically placed dampers offer the additional advantage that the carriage does not bounce and jam unchecked in the event of incorrect operation, power failure or other malfunctions," says the metal workshop owner. Protection by the latter dampers would also be conceivable at the top. For space reasons, however, the other type comes into play on one side, freeing the other side for an end position sensor. The drive of the carriage is another core element explained by David Fuchs. He points out how precisely the pneumatic unit works and thus hits the upper small shock absorber exactly perpendicularly, so that its piston rod is optimally loaded and this machine element can fully exploit its maximum service life of 25 million strokes. Precisely graduated hardness ranges and 20 Nm/stroke energy absorption are further key values, through which up to 34,000 Nm/h are dissipated in continuous operation, which, with the integrated fixed stop of the dampers, enables the Universal Screwdriver 2.0 to be operated cycle for cycle under full load.