Semi automatic wine corking machine

[blakester]

Alright, new project. I want to make a 2 bottle corking machine for my 100 or so cases of wine every year. I have a preliminary design worked up, and wanted to get some feedback on a couple of things. First, the overall design, and second the electronics. So in the two images the one of the overall design will get a change, I am no longer going to use a PLC to run the electronics (i don't think) i have that setup in the second diagram. The essence of the design is this. Put wine bottle on machine, push button activate a linear actuator that extends to insert the crock and retracts. this means I will need to control the polarity so I can run the motor in reverse to retract the actuator. I't s simple design really, the actuators will throw 300 pounds of pressure down (which after checking other commercial ones seems more than enough) and force the cork through a tapered cylinder to compress it before it goes into the bottle. My least area of knowledge is in the electronics. I was thinking of using an inn off delay timer x 2 to essentially provide power for 4 seconds, then turn off, and the other timer runs power for an additional 4 second at reverse polarity to retract it. This will be initiated by a click button. Hit me up with all the ideas and corrections that I'm sure are needed to help make this work. Cheers,

 

[blakester]

hmm, also I guess I need to move the voltage regulators in before the timers, since my power supply is 24 V and the timers work off 12.

 

[hosspuller]

I've helped bottle a few hundred cases ... You'll go crazy waiting for the system to cycle. Use an air powered cylinder with limit switches or a valve to reverse the stroke. A flow control valve on the exhaust will control the cork insertion speed.

Place bottle & cork in holder. Trip start valve/switch. remove corked bottle. Repeat.

 

[BHD]

why not a foot operated or knee switch to activate it,

you work the machine not the machine working you.

 

[robstaples]

If you use end of stroke to set the cork final position then timing isn't necessary with linear motor or air pressure. The linear motors I've used have electrical stops at end of travel. Suggested design: foot petal to start.. pick up relay setting polarity to close ( insert cork). Lmotor does it's thing. Release foot petal..polarity reverses and motor returns to stop or added stop switch. Air cylinder would be faster as suggested. Air foot switch injects cork. Release foot , bleed air and spring or air return. Sounds like fun project. Especially, opening the bottles to see if it worked!!

 

[CobyRupert]

I know a few semi-automatic wine uncorking machines! Nice ladies though.

 

[blakester]

I did think about air power, and cycle time. Air definitely has the advantage of being after in that regard. However, I was thinking about building a dual bottling unit like in the sketch I drew up. That way I won't be waiting so much, and it's expandable. If I wanted to add on I could just keep adding to the side. I had not though tot a foot pedal, but in the past i have not really been siting there corking like that, I'm both corking and filling so I'm back and forth a lot when I'm doing it on my own. Also I like the idea of having it fairly compact and easily portable for moving and storage, not requiring an air supply. The foot pedal idea seems decent though. I was hoping to be able to push then walk away, but if not that seems like a good way to free up some hands.

 

[BHD]

when I first saw this my thoughts were for a turret type machine, some what like a progressive reloader,

place the bottle in a location (first station) hit the button and it rotates to the second station and loads a cork, the third bottle station then seats the cork, and the final or forth station is to remove the bottle.

I know little of wine production but may be end add a fill station even if it was manual with a tank or vat above and a ball vale or silinode to run a valve and fill the bottles in the first station and then let the machine do the rest, or some type of lever that pulls a funnel with a stopper on the vat above and it fills the bottle then it moves to the next station, tha lines up the cork in to the holder,

make a magazine that hold the corks and they move forward and when the machine cycles it pushes the cork in the holder the holder rotates with the bottles, one for each station, the next it seats the cork, and then the next station to remove the bottle,

the cycling of the machine could advance the machine on the return cycle. with a paw or lever, catching a cog,

 

[blakester]

Wow, thats a great idea. Probably a little outside of my scope for this build though. The biggest hurdle I'm trying to solve is to have apiece of electronics stay off for a duration, then turn on for a duration then turn off for a duration again. There are cycle times and the like, but It seems to be hard to find one that can do that. If I make it more manual, as with the foot pedal then it's not such a big deal, but I'm trying to keep it to a single click so I can go fill more bottles while my corker does it's thing.

 

[hosspuller]

Air powered would be less expensive. But a gear motor coupled with a clutch and crank would do the job as well without air. There are many examples of one stroke per cycle mechanism off the shelf solutions available.