Sidel Group presented its first crown feeder working without compressed air. As a result, the new Crown Feeder Aidlin 24 CR saves 70 percent of energy compared to previous feeders. It is targeted specifically for the beer market. After its public presentation at the trade show Brau Beviale in Nuremberg from November 9-11, 2011, the machine is being delivered to the first customer, the Germany-based brewery Rothaus.
The crown feeder combines four functions in a single piece of equipment: storage, orientation, elevation and high speed feeding of the crowner associated with the filling machine. Ready to face very demanding production needs, the crown feeder runs at high speeds up to 1,350 crowns per minute, while at the same time is reliable and ensures perfect hygiene to protect the beverage from any contamination.
For the sustainability agenda of customers, this new crown feeder significantly reduces energy consumption compared to the previous crown feeder generations: it saves 70 percent of energy without compromising the usual reliability of Sidel crown feeder systems. Thanks to its orientation principle by gravity through the simple waterfall concept, its efficiency rate exceeds 99 percent.
Until now, compressed air was needed to eject crowns to the chute at the top of the machine. In Sidel's new Crown Feeder, the discharge system ejects crowns thanks to an airflow generated by a fan located behind the equipment structure. To guarantee the highest level of hygiene the air is filtered with gravi or Hepa filtration. Along the gravity chute, a new mechanical rejection device using no compressed air guarantees 100 percent of well-oriented crowns at the infeed of the crowner. With a noise level down to 85 decibel, the crown feeder is also less noisy than predecessor versions. The innovation is both available for new equipment and “retrofittable” on the existing installed base.
According to Herr Roger Jäger, Production Manager at Rothaus, “the decision to invest on such equipment is driven by three main reasons: performance of the global system, higher hygiene level with waterfall technology and Hepa filtered air and finally, sustainability with the option blower.”
The new crown feeder epitomizes Sidel´s commitment to be a key supplier for the beer industry. All major breweries in the world use cap and crown feeders by Sidel. Cap and crown feeders are a significant product line for Sidel with 100 crown feeders sold and a total installed base of
1,500 units worldwide.
