LINEAR RINSING-FILLING-CAPPING MONOBLOCKS - MLE

The MLE linear monoblock is ideal for filling high quality carbonated products such as still wines, champagne, sparkling wines and beer in glass bottles with a production of 500 to 1,500 bph (bottles per hour) according to the model.

The MLE linear monoblock is ideal for filling high quality products such as still wines, champagne, sparkling wines and beer in glass bottles with a production of 500 to 1,500 bph (bottles per hour) according to the model.
With a container rinsing station, filling cycles with programmable electro-pneumatic valves and up to three different types of closure in a single turret, MLE monoblocks offer great benefits and extraordinary quality at low productions. These machines are, in fact, simplified versions of the larger and faster monoblocks, thus guaranteeing the same flexibility, performance and quality of the larger versions.

The electro-pneumatic rinser allows to program from the screen the duration of the injection time in the bottle and also the drain time. These parameters can be correlated with the bottle format used and recorded in the memory of the machine. The bottle is held by a chain system with a stepper motor and universal floating clamps, which allow format change times to be reduced to a minimum. The injector penetrates 70 mm. in the neck of the bottle, which guarantees that there are no interferences between the injected water and the outlet water. The injector only opens in the presence of a bottle and never comes into contact with the mouth. The rinsing liquid is recovered in a closed circuit, which allows the machine not to get wet under normal use conditions.

GAI has proposed to the market, after years of research, a new patented electro-pneumatic valve "UNICA", with the following characteristics:
- Working pressure from 0 to 8 Bar
- Fill level from 25 to 100 mm. from the edge
- Filling accuracy ± 0.5 mm.
- Minimum level of oxidation
- Ease of sterilization.
It is an ideal valve for bottling very heterogeneous products such as sparkling wines, still wines, quality beers and other food products that require great attention to the degree of oxidation, the formation of foam and the conditions of sterility.

1. Flexible filling
With this new valve, still, aerated and sparkling products can be bottled without compromise.
All working parameters: vacuum in the bottle, working pressure (from 0 to 8 Bar), type of depressurization can be modified without manual intervention. Bottling will be ideal, being able to minimize the degree of oxidation and achieving the maximum guarantee of a sterile bottling.
2. Level regulation
Centralized level regulation, with a range from 25 to 100 mm. from the satin mouth. Level accuracy is ensured by the valve design itself, with an optimal tolerance (0.5 mm). thanks to the self-leveling system
3. Dual channel construction with bottom closure
Thanks to the fact that the closure of the gas filling and return channels are located next to the filling level, we can obtain accurate levels even without the self-leveling system. There are notable advantages in the depressurization phase as the disturbance caused by the product itself contained in the gas return channel is totally eliminated. This generates a very important increase in productivity in products with a high CO2 content.
4. Fake bottle
For the sterilization of the filling valve, the machine equips, as standard, a dummy bottle with manual positioning, which guarantees optimal sanitation of the filler, by means of a closed circuit.
5. Safety of the sterilization cycle
The electro-pneumatic operating valves together with the dummy bottles make it possible to create well-defined and therefore totally efficient sanitation flows. All this, in addition to improving the quality of sanitation, guarantees that it is carried out safely in each circuit present in the filler. These machines can be easily connected to an automatic CIP so that the sterilization cycle can be carried out automatically.
6. Linear construction
The linear construction, applied to machines with a reduced number of filling valves, generates a superior performance compared to the rotary solution. In addition, GAI has squeezed the intermittent operation, derived from this solution, to simplify the circuits without introducing any disadvantage in the quality of the process.
7. Filler tank
The filler tank is manufactured by emptying a thick bar by removing chips and internally polishing with a mirror finish. This makes it possible to achieve a seamless tank, optimized from the point of view of mechanical resistance and perfectly compliant with food requirements. The small volume of the tank (10 ÷ 22 Lts.) Minimizes the losses of the product at the beginning and end of the production and facilitates the washing of the machine.
8. Pressure transducer
The pressure transducer that equips each of the filling valves verifies the correct development of the filling cycle, also detecting any anomalies or malfunctions. For example, the checks carried out make it possible to detect: insufficient degree of vacuum, broken bottle or lack of closure in the neck, drop in pressure in the bottle during depressurization, loss of the tip seal.
9. Repeatability of operation
The electronic time management allows optimizing and customizing the phases of the work cycle according to the product to be bottled, guaranteeing maximum repeatability. In substance, the quality of work is improved and productivity is increased.
10. Format change
The centralized regulation of levels, the universal auger and the automatic and electrical regulation of the height of all the turrets, allow an extremely fast and precise format change.

Natural cork vacuum lining
Four stainless steel jaws with prismatic guide, compress the plug to a diameter of 16 mm. Extreme care has been applied to the construction of the capping head: the roughness of the surfaces in contact with the cork is less than 0.05 microns. The compression of the cork is slow (105 °), while the introduction is very fast (53 °). The jaw-holding box is easily removable to facilitate maintenance and cleaning operations. All models are equipped with low vacuum cap as standard.
The advantages of this system are:
1) No pressure is created inside the bottle when the cap is inserted
2) The oxygen trapped between the wine and the stopper is reduced from 0.25 to 0.08 mg Liter (with 0.75 liter bottle, 60 mm fill level and 45 mm cork).Crown Capper

The capsules are fed by vibration, a photocell stops the vibrator when the capsule channel is full. In this way, you have the certainty of not damaging the capsules and of making the vibrator work optimally. Both the vibrator and the hopper are stopped and only the closing device moves with a part of the capsule descent channel.
The spring that gives the pressure of the capsule on the bottle and the spring that ejects the bottle from the cone belong to the closure device and therefore vary according to the type of capsule. For the BIER version, a water injector is foreseen that causes a sudden formation of foam in the beer immediately before the application of the crown capsule (1). The use of an electro-pneumatic valve allows the duration of the injection to be adjusted directly from the control panel.

Thread capper
The capsules are powered by vibration, a photocell stops the vibrator when the descent channel is full. In the 4292 version, the capsules are distributed in the bottle "on the fly", in a hole in the star preceding the closed position. In version 4295 (see photo) the following operations are carried out:
1) injection of inert gas into the neck of the bottle. (TO).
2) washing the capsule with inert gas.
3) introduction of the capsule in the neck of the bottle with pneumatic piston.
The capsule closing device consists of 4 independently adjustable rollers (2 for the thread, 2 for the bottom closure).
The closing head is equipped with a “no cap-no roll” system.
The rotation speed of the head is adjustable by means of a frequency variator (INVERTER) to optimize the closing and to adapt it to the production of the machine.

 
Multi-capped turret
The multi-capped turret allows to have up to a maximum of 3 different types of closure.
The applicable closure types are.
- Cylindrical and mushroom cork stopper
- Capped crown
- Capped thread
Customers can choose the most suitable type of cap, such as crown-screw or crown-screw-cork, etc.
For the BIER version, the rotating turret with the 2 types of crown capsule (Ø 26 and 29 mm) is particularly interesting, so that it is not necessary to replace the accessories necessary to change the format, but simply to rotate the turret.
Starting from a certain configuration, with additional optional accessories, it is possible to work with different sizes of screw caps, crown or cork stoppers. GAI has optimized the multi-capping turret to the maximum, simplifying the change between different types of capping.
The solution with more closing systems in a single turret allows to contain costs and have a more compact and lighter machine
NOTE: In the multi-capped version, the cork capper does not have a cork hopper, requiring the installation of an external cap feeder mod. 4140W-800.

Rinse stations:
MLE441: 4, MLE661: 6, MLE 881: 8
Filling valves: 
MLE441: 4, MLE661: 6, MLE881: 8
Capping heads:
MLE441: 1, MLE661: 1, MLE881: 1
Production max. (liters / hour):
Carbonated products
MLE441: 375, MLE661: 525, MLE881: 675
Natural products
MLE441: 525, MLE661: 750, MLE881: 950
Speed ​​max. (bottles / hour):
Carbonated products (330 ml)
MLE441: 900, MLE661: 1,200 MLE881: 1,500
Carbonated products (750 ml)
MLE441: 500, MLE661: 700 MLE881: 700
Natural products (750 ml)
MLE441: 700, MLE661: 1,000 MLE881: 1,200

* Productive capacity and speed depend on the characteristics of the product.