B. I. Brooks & Sons, Inc.

Since 1965 when plastic overcaps for cans first hit the market, Donahower & Co. Inc, a subsidiary of B.I. Brooks and Sons Inc., has been designing and building machinery to automatically apply the lids to the cans. We have machines that will apply the lids at a rate of 60 cans per minute to as fast as 250 cans per minute. We also have machines that will apply the lid to a can in a horizontal position so that the can “rolls” through the machine and also machines that handle the can in a vertical “upright” position. We also have an accessory machine called a Preloader that is essentially a vertical carrousel that can be loaded with several cases of lids and will automatically dispense a row of lids onto the spinning rolls on the lid applicator as they are needed.

The Model SRH-100 and the SRH-250 are “horizontal” style machines where the can is on it’s side “rolling” through the machine. These machines would be used for closed top containers and containers that have product that would not be damaged by rolling inside the container.

The SRH-100 will only handle line speeds of 60 CPM for the larger size cans (502 to 603 diameters) and up to 100 CPM for the smaller sizes (402 & smaller). This machine does not have any metering belts so the cans must be spaced apart when they enter the machine. This is not usually a problem because at the slower speeds the cans are usually spaced apart on the conveyor. The lids are set on the spinning rollers and will feed down the rollers to the magazine where they are put in single file and delivered to the point where the can will pick up the lid.

The SRH-250 will run at speeds up to 250 CPM. This machine is equipped with metering belts so that even if cans were to enter the machine Back-to-Back the metering belts will space them apart before they reach the lid pick-up point. The lids are set on the spinning rollers and will feed down the rollers to the magazine where they are put in single file and delivered to the point where the can will pick up the lid.

The SRH-S9 is the vertical machine where the can travels through the machine in an “upright” position. This machine would be used for open top containers and for product that might be damaged by rolling the can on it’s side. This machine also has the ability to pull gaps between the cans if they are too close together. The lids are set on the spinning rollers and feed down the rollers to the magazine, the same as the SRH-100 and the SRH-250. Once they are in single file the lids are sandwiched between two narrow belts and are rotated 90 degrees so that they are laying flat when the can comes by to pick them up.

All of our machines are of a very simple design. They are all mechanical using only belts pulleys and cams and do not have any complicated electronics or pneumatics except for the two motors that drive the machine. The function of the machine is easily understood by anyone with a mechanical aptitude and is therefore very easy for any maintenance personnel to understand and adjust.