Ask The Brewmasters

Hello, I am wondering if there is anyone who can pass on any insight to conveyor transitions?  We have a 5 head wildgoose canning line that has the 90 degree shoot post seamer.  The cans pop out onto a conveyor and we just cannot figure out how to keep the cans from tipping over and backing up the conveyor.  I have looked into conveyor brushes but I am wondering how I would mount them to my existing rails.  Any help would be great.  Thanks

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Landon Swanson
Head Brewer
Pueblo Vida Brewing
Tucson AZ
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We cut a piece of can slip sheet to work as a dead plate across the gap on our WG01 and label conveyor.  It's not eloquent by any means but it was a cheap fix and it keeps the cans moving smoothly across the transition.  Now I'm looking for a similar fix for a transition between the outfeed of my labeler and some new downstream equipment. Unfortunately the slip sheet trick wont work here, but I'm looking at something like this: https://www.epakmachinery.com/roller-dead-plate/

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Gary Heil
Cypress & Grove Brewing Co
Gainesville FL
(352) 318-4882
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We had a similar problem with our old Comac machine; We made a homemade guard to place above the cans so they could not tip over as they transitioned from the seamer to the outfeed conveyor. We made this out of piece of UHMW about 18 " long attached it to conveyor guide rails which was mounted directly above the cans. We mounted it so it could be raised and lowered when ran 12 or 16 oz cans. We adjusted it so it barely cleared the top of the cans, this worked very well and cost nothing since we had this stuff laying around.

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Garry Turnquist
Reliability Manager
Real Ale Brewing Co.
Blanco, TX
830-730-8397
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It sounds like you need an overhead anti-tip plate. We have one set on our seamer outfeed with less than 1/8" of clearance over the top end of the can.

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Brent Acomb
Production Manager
Mother Road Brewing Co.
Flagstaff AZ
(951) 764-0074
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This depends somewhat on what is causing the cans to tip and how.

We've had the transition gap be too wide or too uneven, causing the cans to catch during the push and tip them over. This will happen over the course of time, and just requires some monitoring and adjusting of the heights of the conveyer and the seamer as they will drift apart over time (ours both have adjustable feet we can use to alter the height and a transfer plate between the two that we can adjust as well).

We've also had a smooth transition across the bottom of the can, but the sudden increase in speed the opposite direction would still knock them over somewhat regularly. We actually just cut some tubing and zip tied it to the edge of the conveyor rail to serve as a sort of bumper when they wobbly in the corner, and this has all but completely solved that issue.

Finally, it could be your can push heading into the seamer that is to blame. This is one of the most common adjustments I make when things start tipping too much on that transition. If the push is too hard it will knock it over on the transition, and if it's too soft it can cause that wobbling as the can edges on to the conveyer too slowly. Finding the right speed on the push can make all the difference.

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Joshua Maxson
Confluence Brewing Company
West Des Moines IA
(319) 400-9678
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