Automatic cup filler-sealers for liquids, powders and granules, with models, specifications and videos.
Key Takeaways
A semi-automatic cup sealer suits lower volumes. An automatic cup sealing machine suits continuous production on a line.
The machine feeds the lid film and makes the seal, but someone places and removes every cup.
Cups are loaded, filled, sealed, cut and discharged by the machine, from about 20 cups a minute upwards.
Choose a cup sealing machine by your daily output first: a semi-automatic cup sealer for lower volumes where an operator can load each cup, and an automatic cup sealing machine for continuous production on a line. Then match the machine to your product, your cups and your lid.
A semi-automatic sealer feeds the film and makes the seal while the operator places and removes every cup. An automatic machine loads, fills, seals, cuts and discharges cups on its own. We supply semi-automatic and automatic cup sealers, not manual ones. See the models on our cup sealing machine page.
The difference between a manual, semi-automatic and automatic cup sealer is how much of the work the operator does. On a manual cup sealer, the operator places a filled cup in the holder, pulls a handle to seal the film and removes the cup, one at a time. A semi-automatic cup sealer feeds the film and completes the seal itself, but the operator still loads and removes every cup.
An automatic cup sealing machine takes the operator out of the cycle. Cups are loaded, indexed through filling and sealing, cut from the film and discharged, so the machine runs as part of a production line. The automatic machines we supply fill the cup as well as seal it, which is why they are also called cup filler-sealers.
We supply semi-automatic and automatic cup sealing machines. We do not supply manual cup sealers, which suit small shops sealing cups by hand.
A semi-automatic cup sealer and an automatic cup sealing machine differ in who handles the cup, what the machine does on its own and where it sits in your production. The table sets them side by side.
| Semi-automatic cup sealer | Automatic cup sealing machine | |
|---|---|---|
| Who handles the cup | The operator, for every cup | The machine |
| What the machine does | Feeds the lid film and makes the seal | Loads, fills, seals, cuts and discharges |
| Output | Set by how fast the operator loads cups | From about 20 cups a minute to 36,000 cups an hour, by model |
| Place in production | A sealing station on its own | Part of a line, with date coding and downstream packing |
| Suits | Lower volumes and growing producers | Continuous production |
A semi-automatic cup sealer is the right choice when your volume does not yet justify a line and an operator can stay with the machine. The operator loads each filled cup, the machine feeds the lid film and makes the seal, and the operator removes the sealed cup.
Because every cup passes through the operator's hands, output is set by how fast the operator works rather than by the machine. That suits lower volumes and producers who are growing into cup packaging. When cups queue up waiting to be sealed, or the sealer needs more than one person, the next step is an automatic machine.
Tell us your product, your cups and your daily volume, and we will advise whether a semi-automatic sealer covers it.
You need an automatic cup sealing machine when production runs continuously and cups have to be filled and sealed without an operator handling each one. The machine loads the cup, fills it with the system matched to your product, heat-seals a foil or film lid, cuts it from the film and discharges the cup to the next stage.
Output starts at about 20 cups a minute and runs to 36,000 cups an hour on the largest models. The rotary cup filler-sealer we supplied to a juice producer in Johannesburg fills 50 to 150 ml cups at 20 to 25 cups a minute, by pump, with an agitator in the hopper to keep the juice mixed. The juice cup filling and sealing case study covers that project.
Automatic cup sealing machines come in two layouts. A rotary machine moves cups around a turret, which keeps the footprint compact and suits high-speed dairy and beverage lines. A linear machine moves cups along a straight conveyor, which suits larger cups and makes it easier to add stations later.
Your product decides the filling system, and your cups and lid decide the tooling and the seal on a cup sealing machine. On an automatic machine, liquids such as juice, water and yoghurt are filled by a pump matched to the product's thickness, powders by an auger screw or measuring cup, and granules by a multihead weigher or measuring cup.
The cup moulds are made to suit your cups, so send us every cup you plan to run. The machine can seal plastic, paper and PET cups and aluminium foil containers.
The lid is a choice between aluminium foil and laminated plastic film. Aluminium foil gives the strongest barrier against moisture, oxygen and light, and is standard on dairy and hot-fill products. Laminated plastic film costs less and prints well. For how the seal is made, see how cup sealing machines work.
A cup sealing machine needs installation, operator training and parts close by, so check what the supplier provides before you choose. Our team installs the machine on your site, tests it on your product and trains your operators.
Spare parts are held at our Johannesburg workshop. On the juice line, seal strips, suction cups, air tubing and a pressure regulator came from that stock for repairs while the machine was in production.
Routine care on a cup sealing machine means cleaning the filling nozzles and seal heads, checking the cutting dies for wear, keeping the film reel tracking straight and calibrating fill volumes. Our guides to cup sealing machine maintenance and cup sealing problems go into more detail.
If an operator can load each cup and your volume is still growing, a semi-automatic cup sealer will do the job. If production runs continuously, choose an automatic cup sealing machine that fills and seals in one pass. See the models on our cup sealing machine page, then send us your product, cups and daily volume for a trial or quotation.
Send us your product, your cups and the volume you need, and we will come back with the cup sealing machine that suits it: semi-automatic or automatic.
