2023 Equipment Overview - Corking Machines

When we discuss bottle corking machines, we always seem to bring up the wine and distilled spirits industries, and for good reason. Cork closures were and are used in the wine aging process because cork allows in a slight bit of oxygen over time, allowing a wine to reach its best "age" through the oxidation process. Today, natural cork and synthetic cork are both used for packaging wine, distilled spirits and a number of other products as well.

Automatic corking machines allow for corks, T-corks and other cork-like closures to seal a bottle as it passes through the corking machine on a power conveyor. These machines will deliver the cork to the bottle and secure the cork in the opening with almost no operator interaction once the machine is initially set up. Automatic corking machines allow for consistent and reliable bottle sealing, and may be combined with capsule spinners or neck banders to provide a second layer of sealing and protection for a product.

As the distilled spirits industry has seen an influx of craft distillers over the past decade plus, bartop corkers have also become a popular machine at Liquid Packaging Solutions. These tabletop corking machines allow an operator to simply slide a bottle into position under the corking head, at which point the cork will be secured and the bottle sealed. These smaller, semi-automatic machines will require the operator of the machine to load a chute with corks from time to time to allow for the delivery of the same to the bottles. The operator will also interact with each bottle to be sealed. Semi-automatic corkers are often combined with tabletop filling equipment, allowing a single operator to efficiently and consistently fill bottles before sliding them over to seal them with the corker.

While corkers and components such as the capsule spinners and neck banders are popular in the wine and spirits industries, cork closures are becoming more popular, with more cross-over products as well, such as perfumes, olive oils and even bottled water using these closure types. Different closure types all have different benefits for both the packager and the consumer. To learn more about all of the different closures and the cappers manufactured by LPS for those closures, browse the Capping Machinery section of the LPS website or call to speak with a Capping Specialist to find the best solution for your project.