Multiple bottle filler build idea

[Archtronics]

So bottling is taking up way to much time so I have tried designing something to speed the whole process up.

Basicly fermenter splits into 3 outlets which have little bottler type valves on the end so.

1. Squirt no rinse steriliser into bottle empty and put into stand
2. Once 3 bottles in pull down arm holding pipes from valve - bottles filled (each pipe will have taps to isolate them)
3. slide base along rail and bench cap each bottle (3 bottles sterilised, filled and capped)

I think this should speed up the whole process but as yet it is untested to hopefully in the coming months I can build and test my idea. Eventual the ideal plan is to automate the process.

Any comments and ideas are welcome

Thanks

 

[puravida]

Oh I love that!!

 

[Devonhomebrew]

You could get bottling wands you know the ones that stop the flow of the beer i dont know how you would bottle three at a time with my idea but you could do two.

George
___________________

Brewing: Sod-all
On Tap: Odins Breath Sweet Stout
Bottles: Golding Fuggly Ale & Wheaty Wonder
Planning: AG Milds One wood aged and one fresh one blended with another old one say a month old blended with a 7 dayold one.

 

[tazuk]

wow good idea some body been counting beer bottles in bed only prob i can see is keeping the flow same to 3 bottles unless you use one of those auto bottle fillers are you going to prime bottles first or batch prime ?????? :thumb: :drink:

 

[oldbloke]

I also think you're highly likely to get varying flow rates, so I think you want an array of Little Bottler s, independently liftable so you can stop any individually, and preferably with a stop-all device as well.

 

[calumscott]

Also think about where the bottleneck is. Not the neck of the bottle but in terms of flow rate and actual bottling rate.

If all this is connected just to a normal FV tap by some kind of tube then you could just end up filling 3 bottles at a third of the speed if you were just filling one. Net result same filling speed, potentially more faff and a slower bottling process!

Also, think about the time to load your device. When you don't have a continuous production line like in a factory then batch processing has a habit of being quicker and more accurate. Doing one simple job over and over then doing the next simple job over and over reduces mistakes and thinking time. On that point I would omit the no-rinse squirter and capping. Do all the squirting in your whole batch of clean bottles, then fill, then cap.

Can you describe your existing process, step by step? That might highlight a really obvious place to save time...

 

[Archtronics]

Previous I

Sterilise fill then cap each bottle individually.

I probably should have mentioned I plan on having a reservoir between the fillers and the fermenter with a small ball valve to keep a steady flow much like the idea used by these. http://www.brewuk.co.uk/store/bottling/bottling-aids/bottle-filling-machine.html

The whole point of this is so I can fill 3 bottles at the same time, I plan to have about 10-15 bases so I can preload all the bottles into them then its just a case of sliding them into my design filling then bench cap and finish. Where I think it will save me time is in the filling of the bottle because instead of waiting while 1 bottle is filled I will have filled 3 in that time.

As for the sterilising I don't know if I can improve on a spray bottle so may keep that manual but I do have few other ideas to experiment with.

Hope that answers your questions



Hope that answers your question

 

[Stone Cold]

Im not dissing your project i think its worth doing especially for those who brew large amounts. im still hand bottling but i have been dreaming up a semi auto filler.

my bottleing process is simple as any,
first thing to do is wash out the dregs of the bottles you drink at the end of the night so they never get beer/yeast stuck to the bottle.

when it comes to bottling day I fill 2 containers full of water and add sterilising solution to one of them. throw all the bottles into the sterile container. go have a coffee, fag, bacon sarnie ( this bit is up to you! go nutsz, get creative)
after half hour or roundabouts that transfer the bottles to the water container then start taking them all out as soon as like as all your doing is swilling them out.

I attatch a bottling stick to the tap of a cheap plastic home brewers barrel where it has been batch primed
fill all bottles then cap em all after.

I know its a bit daunting but unless your bottling over a 100 bottles at a time i dont see the need to automate it. I have bottled 430 bottles with this method in less than half a day.

 

[Stone Cold]

http://www.harroldcalvados.com/m3/m3.shtml

bottle filler at bottom of page for u to look at

 

[The Goatreich]

Stone Cold! I think you've just solved my water wastage problem come bottling day. I'll need another FV for the rinsing bucket, but that's is still a great idea!

 

[Stone Cold]

also I use a bakers plastic tray as bottle tree
turn upside down and line the bottles upside down in the holes to drain

 

[The Goatreich]

One of those has been dumped around the back of my house too, I may take it in and nurture it.

 

[Archtronics]

Thanks for the linky :thumb:

Got a 80 ltr brew length extract planned soon and that's approx 150ish bottle. :wha:

Ideally I am basicly trying to make it as easy as possible but also cheap my budgets going to be 20 pounds excluding the capper which I already have.

Once I get it working manually I hope to set it up so the filler arms move independently that way I can cap and sterilise while bottles are filling themselves.

 

[calumscott]

Ah now, if you have a clever reservoir then you really will be rocking! Get 1.5 litres in the reservoir and drain it into the bottles all at once. Might be scary trying to balance the flowrates but I guess you could calibrate the thing with some restrictors or something and a bucket full of water!

Combine that with batch processing your bottles and you will be seriously speedy I think. :thumb:

So have all your bottles ready to go, sanitised and loaded onto carriers.

You can be capping the previous carrierful while the reservoir fills and dumps into the bottles. So you don't save on the bottle prep but that would be really hard to get a saving anyway.

You effectively triple your filling rate and use filling time for capping.

Now, whether or not you can cap as quickly as the reservior fill and dump remains to be seen but I think you could be looking at halving your fill and cap time overall. :party:

You might find that capping and shifting quickly becomes the bottleneck though. Fancy adding a triple capper to the system?!?!?

 

[shocker]

also I use a bakers plastic tray as bottle tree
turn upside down and line the bottles upside down in the holes to drain

Curses !!! I gave the one I had away with a load of apples ! Bugger ! Neil ! Neil , can I have it back now ? :pray:

I have been making something similar with a £1 collapsible crate from Tesco and corrugated plastic from an estate agents sign - used a holesaw to make cutouts . Not very sturdy , a bakers tray would be much better . I was going to make a bottle tree but I couldnt decide on a good way to fix the branches . If I used screws they would have to be stainless and once I had paid for them I might as well have just gone and bought a ready made one .

re the OP : have a look online for stuff about milk bottling , the stuff I remember from the 70s was quite basic and would be relatively easy to make . This place might have something relevant ......



http://www.farmideas.co.uk/articles/category/7/workshop

....dont know , havent had time to look through it all yet .

EDIT : just been on the farm ideas site and they want paying for the articles , so maybe look elsewhere :?

 

[Archtronics]

Ah triple bench capper I would be living the dream


Shocker I am actually a farmer so I will ask around see what people know :thumb:

 

[Springer]

:hmm:
Not sure how much time it would save and as mentioned, it would be impossible to get three filled at the same rate. How long does it take to fill a bottle? and one at a time they are in your hand ready to be capped
Also sanitiser need to drain out, i.e. bottle inverted.
Time is to be saved at the bottle washing stage to my mind.
My ideas on bottle washing
S

 

[Archtronics]

I think the flow rate is something to be tested I am just in the process of modelling it in a fluid dynamics program to iron out any problems. but I think I can fine tune it to work well, I don't think all the bottles will have exactly the same amount in but aslong as there similar it won't be that different from doing it by hand.

For the sanitiser I will pre wash my bottles in dairy standard Hypochlorite as usual rinse with water, Then I plan to clamp them in the holders. (blocks of wood/plastic hinged at one end with rubber to keep the bottle stuck in) Then squirt videne in each bottle and slot them onto some kind of frame which will allow them to drain then fill and cap.

Will update with a prototype soon I hope :thumb:

Thanks for all the comments so far

 

[Springer]

Good luck Arch, I will look forward to seeing the prototype. :thumb:
S

 

[shocker]

Yay ! Another user of dairy hypochlorite ! There are SO many things from farming that you can use for brewing ...my sheeps foot dip comes in 20L food grade white buckets , the contents are bagged and non toxic ....guess what all my FVs are ? Devonhomebrew has a Mole Valley red mineral lick bucket as a boiler . My general utility buckets are from various mineral licks . Glucose I had by the sackful for feeding up orphan lambs . The list goes on and on ......
:thumb: