Capping Machines for Child Resistant Caps

If you've ever had trouble opening a bottle of aspirin, mouthwash or even some house cleaning products, you are probably familiar with Child Resistant Caps, or CRC's. In some industries, CRC's or other techniques are required to ensure that young children cannot easily access products that may cause them harm. Generally speaking, CRC closures are fairly easy to get on a bottle, but more difficult to remove. As the capping machines manufactured by Liquid Packaging Solutions are used to apply caps, in most situations little to no modification is necessary to apply child resistant closures.

CRC's are typically screw-on type closures similar to those found on bottled water and popular soft drinks. The difference is that CRC closures will lock upon tightening, which makes them more difficult to remove, requiring the user to push and twist rather than just twist off the cap. At LPS, two different capping machines exist to handle threaded, twist-off type closures, the spindle capper and the chuck capper.

Spindle capping machines allow for continuous capping of bottles and other containers as they travel down the power conveyor and into the capping area. Sets of matched spinning disks thread the cap, with usually three or four sets providing a consistent and reliable seal. A spindle capper built for CRC's may include a modified or custom stabilizer bar to ensure that the cap is properly positioned to lock after moving through the last set of spindle wheels. The last set of wheels almost always includes a clutch as well, allowing the operator to adjust the tightening or torque to ensure the CRC's lock down.

Chuck capping machines offer an alternative to the spindle capper. Rather than using wheels to thread the caps, the chuck capper uses a capping head that descends over the cap and bottle to apply torque. When CRC's are involved, the chuck capper may require slightly more torque than a non-child resistant threaded closure, simply to achieve the lock that provides the resistance to opening. Other than the added torque, little to no modification will normally be necessary to handle a CRC.

Whether the packager uses a spindle capper or a chuck capper for a CRC project will depend on a number of different factors, including the bottle and cap types, bottle sizes, production speed and many others that may be unique to any given project. Both capping machines are also available in semi-automatic and automatic models, offering options for packagers of all sizes. To learn more about the different capping machine options offered by LPS, browse the Capping Machinery section of the LPS website.