Frequently Asked Questions

Since Universal was founded in 1976, we have worked tirelessly to provide excellence at every opportunity.

We design and manufacture our filling and capping systems in-house to exacting standards and every project is 100% tested to ensure the Universal Filling Machine Company name for unrivalled quality is upheld.

All contact parts in Universal’s filling systems are manufactured from food- and pharmaceutical-grade components such as certifiable 316 stainless steel. We manufacture our machines to order, from the highest quality materials available and rigorously test every single machine and system we sell – using the customer’s actual products and containers – to ensure it provides outstanding service for years to come and require minimal maintenance and set up.

We have numerous customers who purchased their first filling machine from us in the 1990s which are still going strong and require little other than a regular service to return them to factory specification. Such levels of build quality combined with our outstanding customer service is such a winning formula that around 70% of our customers are repeat customers.

After your project is installed, one of our senior directors will contact you personally with a few questions about your experience, the equipment, our customer service, and your overall level of satisfaction. Please be as honest as you can.

Looking for more information? Take a look at our range of Semi-Automatic And Fully-Automatic Liquid Filling Machines.

A Volumetric Filler is a machine which dispenses a specific volume of liquid in to a container in a repeatable, accurate way.

Widely used in commerical packaging and similar industrial applications; bottles, jars, tins, pots, and similar containers can be filled with a variety of products such as drinks, lotions, sauces, chemicals, solvents, paints, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, oils, detergents, bleaches, acids, alkalines and many more liquids.

Volumetric fillers can range from hand-operated, manual machines through to highly automated production lines, and can fill volumes from 5ml to 5 litres in a single cycle. Multi-shot counters can also be used. These allow a number filling cycles to be completed in a single operation – a single press of the foot switch can be used to trigger 5×5 litre fills, giving a total of 25 litres in a single action.

Most volumetric filling machines use a pneumatically-powered piston within a cylinder. The piston is forced forwards and backwards for each filling cycle.

During this motion, a valve controls the flow of liquid; allowing the cylinder to fill with liquid from the supply as the piston moves away from the valve, and allowing the liquid to exit the via the outled side as the piston moves forwards.

The distance the piston travels within the cylinder determines the volume of liquid it displaces. This distance can be set to give the desired fill volume. The speed of the piston’s movement can also be controlled fore and aft to ensure accurate filling volumes are achieved at acceptable speeds.

A filling nozzle is connected to the outlet side of the valve. This nozzle plays an important role in the filling process; it’s design, diameter and length should be specified to suit the liquid container and to prevent dripping and any other undesired characteristics.

The infeed side of the metering cylinder’s valve is connected to either hopper or supply tank via a feed pipe, replenishing the cylinder as it moves backwards after each fill.

Universal Filling Machine Company manufacture several machines which use this filling principle and offer additional features such a secondary filling speed as an option. This allows for the latter part of the filling cycle to be completed at a reduced speed to avoid liquids splashing as a result of filling too fast. The speed and starting point of the secondary fill can both be set and have no effect on the overall filling volume.

When choosing which filling machine is the right one for you, the best method is to focus on your requirements of the system and identify the idea specification. Some of the main things to consider are:

The viscosity.

Does the liquid in question flow freely, or is it a higher viscosity? In general terms, the higher a liquid’s viscosity, the fewer filling options there are available.

Free-flowing, low viscosity liquids can often be filled by either a volumetric system which uses a pneumatically powered piston to displace a predetermined amount of liquid, or by a vacuum filling system which uses a special filling nozzle arrangement to draw liquid into the bottle by suction.

The container.

The size, shape, and material a container is made from will influence the type of machine used to fill it. Most rigid plastic or glass bottle can be filled with thinner, free-flowing liquids via a vacuum-level filling machine, whilst jars, flexible bottles or pouches are likely to require a volumetric filling system. Large containers above 5-litres may require a volumetric system with a mobile ‘Wander Nozzle’ to allow the operator to fill the containers at ground level.

Fill accuracy.

The level of accuracy required can also influence the choice of liquid filling system. In situations where the finished product is visible within the bottle and displayed in a retail environment, a vacuum level filling system may be appropriate because it will fill bottles to the same height, regardless of any differences from one container to another. This is particularly useful when filling glass bottles as the glass thickness can vary substantially.

Where a consistent, dependable fill volume is required and the aesthetics of several bottles displayed side-by-side on a shelf is not important, a volumetric filling system will provide a greater level of accuracy (commonly +/-0.5%). Volumetric filling systems work with a wider range of viscosities and container types.

Many of our volumetric filling machines have the added benefit of a variable, user specified ‘secondary fill volume’ which reduces the filling speed towards the end of each cycle, preventing liquid from splashing out of the top in the final stage of filling.

Production scale.

The number of containers to be filled has a direct correlation with the level of automation the suitable filling system should have. Production scales of a between a few dozen and a few hundred can – in many cases – be achieved using either a manual or semi-automatic filling system, whereas regular production runs upwards of 1,000 are likely to require a greater level of automation through the filling process to achieve a high enough production rate. Semi-automatic and manual filling systems tend to be quicker to clean and changeover for a different filling application than fully automatic filling systems.

Production scales can be increased in several ways: conveyor systems to pass containers through the filling process automatically, multi-headed filling systems can fill up to 12 containers simultaneously, rotary infeed and outfeed tables can allow operators to place and remove numerous containers more rapidly. Additional systems can also be added such as capping and labelling to further increase production output.

Production environment.

Manual filling machines such as our Handifill range can – for the most part – be used almost anywhere provided there is a firm surface to secure the machine to. Semi- automatic and fully automatic filling equipment will require either a supply of compressed air, electricity or both. Our liquid filling systems can be specified for use in ATEX environments.

Other considerations.

Apart from the items listed above, there are a few other things to consider when choosing the right filling machine for your application. The type of liquid is a major factor. The contact parts within our filling machines are made from food- and pharmaceutical-grade 316 stainless steel.

Hoses, internal seals and valve assemblies are often specified to suit the type of liquid to be filled, whether it be Whisky or printer ink, paint or car wax; the materials used within the filling system need to be specified to suit to avoid contamination or premature seal degradation and failure. For example, piston seals which can withstand the rigours of dispensing acids may not be accredited for use within food or drinks production.

Another item influenced by the liquid type is the nozzles used. Nozzles are made to suit each application, container types and fill volume. Although often overlooked, the nozzle design can have a huge impact on the capability of a filling system to cleanly and efficiently fill containers time and again.

The characteristics of a liquid also play a part in the specification of a filling system and its nozzle design. Particularly ‘sticky’ liquids, such as syrup, may be similar viscosity to a hair gel, yet is likely to ‘cling’ to surfaces more readily than gel. Equally, printer ink can be the same viscosity as detergent but less likely to foam when dispensed. These characteristics will be addressed in the design of the nozzle in order to dispense cleanly and efficiently.

The simplest methods of filling numerous bottles simultaneously is to use a multi-head filling machine.

Semi-automatic filling machines can often have 2 or even 4 filling heads and fully automatic filling machines can have as many as 12 filling heads.

Each filling head has its own nozzle and bottles are positioned beneath them for filling.

In some cases, multi-head vacuum level filling machines, such as the Easifill can be set up to fill ‘continuously’. Bottles can be positioned for filling in sequence 1 through to 4. Bottle 1 is likely to finish filling first and can be replaced first, then bottle 2, 3, and 4.

Fully-automatic filling machinery can fill up to 12 bottles at once, before releasing them to make way for the next 12 bottles. The level of automation available with such machines can make their productivity many times that of any semi-automatic filling system.

The price of a filling machine is determined by numerous factors.

The level of productivity and automation being obvious factors, although the liquid to be filled, the fill volume, level of accuracy required and, frankly, the overall design and build quality of the filling system also play a significant part in in the machine’s price.

Filling machines which are manufactured to exacting tolerances from the highest quality, certifiable materials will always be at the higher end of the price range, but with that comes a level of performance, reliability, and capability that other machines will be unable to contend with.

Many of Universal Filling Machine Company’s products from the 1990s are still going strong today, whereas some of the cheaper options available are built to wider tolerances from lesser quality materials, resulting in a far shorter lifespan, poor reliability, low accuracy and a greater likelihood of leaks and other major failures.

Cheap manual filling machines can be purchased for a few hundred pounds, although they are likely to give disappointing performance, reliability and replacement parts may be difficult to source.

As productivity requirements increase, so does the level of automation required by the filling system. While automating a filling system inevitably increases its price, the productivity available from an automated filling system is way beyond anything achievable with a manual filling system.

Highly automated filling systems with other integrated features, such as automatic cap placement and tightening, label printing and automatic quality control inspection systems can cost several hundred thousand pounds. Such systems are commonly built to suit an individual client’s specification and are capable of a very high level of productivity, day and night with minimal human input.

The versatility of the system will also be a factor in its price. All of the machines we make at Universal Filling Machine Company can handle a wide range of fill volumes, container & cap shapes and sizes as well as a broad variety of liquid types and viscosities and – in many cases – even our fully automatic systems can be switched from one size/volume/viscosity/container/cap in just a few minutes, whilst our semi-automatic and manual machines can take as little as a few seconds to change.

To determine the price of a filling machine, there are many variables to quantify to determine the system’s scope and specification. We would suggest drawing upon our expertise at the earliest opportunity so that we can help you make the right choice of filling system for your requirements and budget.

In basic terms, a liquid filling machine is a device which provides a level of mechanisation, repeatability, and productivity to the process of filling containers with liquids.

The level of mechanisation, repeatability and productivity is determined by several factors; such whether the machine is connected to a power source or hand-operated, the speed at which it can repeat a dispensing or filling cycle and the volume of liquid it is capable of dispensing in a single cycle.

Most liquid filling machines have a range of volumes they can be set to fill in a single cycle, however, vacuum level filling machines fill containers with liquid until a specified height within the container is reached, rather than volume.

This height is determined by the position of the filling nozzle within the container and, more specifically, the position of a scavenger tube within the nozzle design which draws surplus liquid away to be returned to the supply source.

A capping machine is a mechanism for securing a cap onto a container, such as a bottle, jar or vial. There are numerous types of caps and numerous securing methods. Each requiring a different type of capping machine for the job.

Screw Caps

Probably the most common type of cap for plastic bottles and jars, screw caps are simply pre-threaded caps made from either plastic or metal. They are placed on to the container and turned clockwise to tighten them. A specified torque is often set, at which tightening stops and the capping mechanism releases the completed container.

Crimp Caps

Widely used in pharmaceuticals, cosmetics and with spray pump applications, crimp caps are part-formed caps which are placed on to the container and a crimping tool is used to complete the caps forming, compressing its sides to follow the contours of the container’s neck and securing the cap firmly.

ROPP Caps

ROPP stands for Roll On Pilfer Proof, and refers to a cap type which is not dissimilar to a crimp cap in as much as it is part-formed before placing and completed during the final capping process. ROPP caps are widely used for drinks bottling and similar consumable products as once opened, the perforated lower rim of the cap is broken, making it evident that the container has been opened.

ROPP Caps are secured to the container by a rotating capping head which comprises a number of forming rollers. After several revolutions, these forming rollers form the aluminium blank cap to the contours of the bottle’s neck; which has a screw thread and a lower lip.

The forming process imparts the bottle’s screw thread on to the cap and rolls the bottom of the cap under the lip, making it impossible to open the bottle without breaking the tamper-evident perforations. ROPP caps are commonly used for wines, spirits, soft drinks, sauces and similar products.

Universal produce and supply a range of machines to cover all of the these cap types, from manually operated to fully automatic.

Explore our range of capping machines, or see videos of our capping machines in use.

Widely referred to as a ‘screw cap’, the metal caps often used on wines and spirits which resembles a cork foil is known – in the industry at least – as an ROPP cap.

ROPP is an acronym of Roll On Pilfer Proof and refers to the cap fitting process along with the fact that the cap’s perforations and collar arrangement provide an anti-tamper feature; making it evident of the bottle’s cap has been removed or interfered with in any way.

Special equipment is required to fit ROPP caps to bottles, such as our ROPP Capper for small scale production, or the Posicap ROPP for higher production volumes.

Both systems apply the cap in a similar way. A ‘blank’ cap is positioned on top of the bottle and a capping head compresses the blank via rollers to mimic the shape of the bottle’s neck; including it’s screw thread. The bottle’s neck acts as a die for the cap to be formed around. The cap’s perforations are positioned below the between the thread and the bottleneck’s retaining ridge, creating the tamper-evident seal.

Two distinct bottling technologies are available for semi-automatic and fully automatic bottle filling machines: volumetric and vacuum-level filling.

Manually operated bottle filling machines tend only to fill volumetrically whereas semi automatic and fully automatic bottle filling machines can be either volumetric or vacuum level fillers.

Volumetric bottling machines

Manual bottle filling machines use a piston within a cylinder to force liquid into the container.

These normally have a pneumatically powered pump mechanism, set to fill containers with the required volume of liquid, fed from either a floor-standing container or a machine-mounted hopper.

Containers are positioned below the filling nozzles and a foot pedal switch to start the filling process.

Volumes between 5ml and 25-litres can be handled by volumetric bottling machines and up to 150 containers per minute can be filled, depending on the fill volume, liquid viscosity and level of machine automation.

Vacuum level filling machines

Vacuum bottle filling machines use the rim at the top of the container to form an airtight seal around the filling nozzle.

This airtight seal creates a vacuum within the bottle which draws free-flowing liquids from a supply tank into the bottle, via specially designed nozzles. These nozzles have a small hole on the side which is connected to a small internal tube.

The height of this hole in relation to the top of the container during filling determines the level of liquid dispensed. The small hole in the nozzle scavenges excess liquid from the filling process and collects it in a receiver for reuse.

Vacuum level bottling machines fill containers to the same height each time, rather than dispensing the same volume. This is particularly useful for glass bottles which will be side-by-side on display shelves in shops. Glass bottles vary in capacity quite a lot, yet vacuum-level filling ensures the level each bottle is filled to is the same, giving a consistent appearance from one bottle to the next. Vacuum level bottling requires rigid containers which won’t collapse under a vacuum.

Vacuum-level machines have virtually no moving parts, making them incredibly reliable, and can fill up to 120 bottles per minute depending on the container type, number of filling heads and level of automation.

Bottles are simply positioned with their top in contact with a sealing ring around the nozzle. The container will start to fill as soon as an airtight seal is made and stop when the pre-determined fill height is reached.

Yes. in almost all cases, liquid filling machines can handle a range of different container sizes and fill volumes.

The broadness of this range will vary from one type to another, as will the simplicity of changing from one container to another.

Some of our semi-automatic filling machines may require very little adjustment in some instances whereas some fully-automated filling lines may require different bottle handling components in order to transit the containers through the filling process.

The fill volume setting on volumetric filling machines takes just moments to set and fine tune. Many semi-automatic filling machines will then only require adjustment to the bottle rest and filling speed.

Of course, the more complex the filling machinery, the more variables there are which can be adjusted or changed, such as secondary filling speeds, nozzle position and – where applicable – dive height as well as nozzle types and sizes.

Any other functions integrated with the filling system such as capping and labelling that also require changing for a different container shape, size or volume should also be considered and will add to the time required to changeover.

Carbonated liquids have substantially different characteristics to still or non-carbonated liquids. They react to changes in pressure and agitation far more than liquids that are not carbonated.

The process of volumetric filling forces liquid into a container and the process of Vacuum Level filling draws liquid into a container by vacuum. Both processes will have an adverse effect on a carbonated liquid, causing it to fizz and overflow.

Most industrial-scale filling systems for carbonated drinks effectively produce a filling environment which is at a higher-than-atmospheric level of air pressure throughout the entire filling and capping cycle. The supply tank, filling system, and bottle are all pressurised with CO2 to an extent which forces some of the CO2 gas to be dissolved within the liquid while preventing it from fizzing and overflowing.

In such an environment, carbonated drinks behave much more like non-carbonated liquids and can be filled by gravity or volumetric filling.

Unfortunately, Universal Filling Machine Company don’t currently offer a system which maintains constant, balanced pressure throughout the filling cycle.

A bottle filling system is a device for filling bottles, jars and similar containers with liquid in a repeatable and productive way.

There are a variety of bottle filling systems available; each one designed and manufactured with a particular production scale, filling method, fill volume, liquid type and viscosity in mind.

Bottle filling machines can be used for any quantity of production, from a handfull of containers up to full-scale production of thousands – or tens of thousands – of bottles.

Bottle filling systems will typically draw liquid from a large container such as an IBC tank, a hopper or similar, and dispense a predetermined quantity of liquid into bottles, jars or other containers via a nozzle.

Smaller scale bottle filling machines are often either manually operated (via a hand operated lever), or semi-automatic; powered by compressed air, electricity, or a combination of the two.

Bottle filling machines are used across a wide range of industries, from pharmaceuticals and cosmetics to solvents and paints, with everything included between.

Looking for more information? Take a look at our range of Semi-Automatic And Fully-Automatic Liquid Filling Machines.

There are a few things to consider in order to determine which type of filling machine will suit you best.

Firstly, what type of container do you want to fill?

If the containers are flexible, then a vacuum-level filling machine may not be suitable. Vacuum level bottle filling machines rely on the container’s rigidity and ability to withstand a vacuum whilst they are being filled. Bottles made from thin plastic tend to collapse during this process, so a volumetric filling system which simply pours liquid into the container is likely to be the better option.

What size of container do you want to fill?

Obviously, larger containers can take longer to fill than smaller ones, regardless of the filling method. Volumetric filling machines have a maximum volume of liquid they can dispense in a single cycle. Multiple cycles can be used to fill larger containers, alternatively, a vacuum level filling system may suit your needs better because they keep filling until the filling nozzle’s overflow hole is reached.

How many containers do you want to fill?

Production runs of a up to a thousand can potentially be achieved with manual filling machines in just a few hours, but if such productivity is required regularly, a greater level of automation might be adviseable to speed up the process and reduce labour costs.

How viscose is the liquid?

Volumetric filling machines can handle thicker liquids than vacuum-level filling machines. Volumetric liquid filling machines can also be adapted to accommodate liquids which contain particles.

Other factors to consider

Aside from the productivity of the filling system, other factors to consider are types of seals used throughout the machine.

Some liquids will rapidly degrade the wrong type of seals, and other seal types are not approved for food/drinks applications. It’s essential to take advice from an expert to find the correct configuration for your needs.

Additionally, it’s worth considering your chosen system’s ability to provide reliable, ongoing service with full support from the manufacturer. Are your filling requirements likely to cause heavy wear and tear on a lesser filling machine and will the manufacturer provide dependable service and maintenance and ongoing support when you need it?

Looking for more information? Take a look at our range of Semi-Automatic And Fully-Automatic Liquid Filling Machines.

Two distinct filling technologies are available for semi-automatic and fully automatic filling machines: volumetric and vacuum-level filling. Manually operated filling machines tend only to fill volumetrically.

Volumetric filling machines

Manual liquid filling machines use a piston within a cylinder to force liquid into the container.

These normally have a pneumatically powered pump mechanism, set to fill containers with the required volume of liquid, fed from either a floor-standing container or a machine-mounted hopper.

Containers are positioned below the filling nozzles and a foot pedal switch to start the filling process.

Volumes between 5ml and 25-litres can be handled by volumetric filling machines and up to 150 containers per minute can be filled, depending on the fill volume, liquid viscosity and level of machine automation.

Vacuum level filling machines

Vacuum level semi-automatic filling machines use the rim at the top of the container to form an airtight seal around the filling nozzle.

This airtight seal creates a vacuum within the bottle which draws free-flowing liquids from a supply tank into the bottle, via specially designed nozzles. These nozzles have a small hole on the side which is connected to a small internal tube.

The height of this hole in relation to the top of the container during filling determines the level of liquid dispensed. The small hole in the nozzle scavenges excess liquid from the filling process and collects it in a receiver for reuse.

Vacuum level filling machines fill containers to the same height each time, rather than dispensing the same volume. This is particularly useful for glass bottles which will be side-by-side on display shelves in shops. Glass bottles vary in capacity quite a lot, yet vacuum-level filling ensures the level each bottle is filled to is the same, giving a consistent appearance from one bottle to the next. Vacuum level filling requires rigid containers which won’t collapse under a vacuum.

Vacuum-level machines have virtually no moving parts, making them incredibly reliable, and can fill up to 120 bottles per minute depending on the container type, number of filling heads and level of automation.

Bottles are simply positioned with their top in contact with a sealing ring around the nozzle. The container will start to fill as soon as an airtight seal is made and stop when the pre-determined fill height is reached.

Looking for more information? Take a look at our range of Semi-Automatic And Fully-Automatic Liquid Filling Machines.

Filling machines can be broken down in to 3 main categories: manual, semi-automatic and fully automatic. There are also two main filling technologies used – vacuum level filling and volumetric filling.

Manual Liquid Filling Machines

Manual liquid filling machines use a piston within a cylinder to force liquid into the container.

Known as volumetric filling, this technology dispenses the same volume every time.

The volume of liquid dispensed is pre-set by the operator for repeatability and can be changed within the available output volume range of the machine (between 100-500ml, for example). These machines require no power supply, are compact, and can often be bench mounted.

The operator positions the container in to the filling machine, pulls the lever until the end-stop is reached which forces the liquid out of the nozzle, into the container. In almost every case, manually operated liquid filling machines fill one container at a time.

Manual filling machines can be configured to work with a variety of liquids and a wide range of viscosities.

Depending on the liquid’s viscosity and volume dispensed per cycle, filling speeds of 15 containers per minute are likely.

Semi-automatic liquid filling machines

Semi-automatic liquid filling machines fulfil the same purpose as manual machines but have a source of power which allows for higher productivity.

Semi-automatic filling machines can have up to four filling heads, meaning 4 containers can be filled simultaneously which greatly increases productivity.

Many semi-automatic filling machines use the same principle as manual filling machines to dispense liquid into the container, but rather than pulling a lever, the operator either presses a foot pedal switch, or simply positions the containers in place and they fill by themselves; depending on the filling technology used.

Semi-automatic filling machines can be either freestanding, mobile units or bench-mounted and can draw liquid from either a hopper or from a separate vessel via feed tubes.

Fully automatic liquid filling machines

Fully automatic filling machines can be either volumetric filling or vacuum level filling and have the added production benefit of a bottle handling system to manoeuvre containers through the filling stage and seamlessly on to any further processes such as cap placement and label application.

Additional processes can also include nitrogen purging to remove oxygen from the top of filled bottles and individual serial number printing.

Commonly, containers will be placed on to a rotating feed table or similar mechanism which feeds containers into the filling machine as required. Caps can also be fed into the system via a rotating hopper which can correctly orientate them and position them in a chute for placement.

Depending upon a variety of factors, fully automatic filling machines will either fill each container in turn, or in batches of up to 12 containers at a time before releasing them to make way for the next 12 containers.

Fully automatic filling machines can be highly productive, filling up to 150 bottles per minute with anything from 5ml to 5.5 litres.