envino
Corking and wax-sealing machine for small wineries
- Year
- 2025
- Type
- Product · Industrial equipment
- Context
- Tecnología IV, Cátedra Paglianiti — FADU/UBA
- Team
- Cosmedi / Falbo / Fernández Cicco / Hernández Figueroa / Tamaro / Zabala
- Status
- Prototype
Corking, wax-dipping and stamping in a single machine — the three finishing operations a small winery has to send out to somebody else.
envino corks wine bottles and seals their necks with wax. It was designed for the Argentine production context: it lets small wineries and SMEs bring an airtight closure and a distinctive handmade finish in-house, in one pass, and turn that finish into part of the brand.
The machine is split into two zones and that split is the whole design. The operator works the front — loading the bottles and choosing the mode — and everything after that runs on its own.
- 120
- bottles per hour. Not a plant figure, and it is not meant to be one — it is the rate a semi-automatic line needs to hit to free a winery from hiring specialised labour.
- ≈16,000
- bottles a year is what the small and mid-size wineries the machine is aimed at actually produce. Sizing the machine to that number is what keeps it affordable.
- 58 s
- is the full cycle, from loading the bottles to taking them out: corking, a 180° turn, the wax dip, cooling and the stamp.
Sized for the cellar, not for the plant
The machine stands at working height and is operated from the front, in the same room where the wine is aged.
Structure
A welded square-tube frame carries the three subsystems — corker, wax tray and stamping cams — and the sheet panels close it in.
- 01Tube frame35×35×2 mm SAE 1010 steel, welded
- 02Sheet panels1 mm SAE 1010 steel
- 03Corking pistonLinear pneumatic actuator
- 04SteppersThree NEMA 17 units
- 05Cam and followerTurned AISI 1045
- 06Wax trayPressed AISI 304 stainless
- 07Heating elements550 W and 200 W, 220 V
- 08Bimetal thermostatsFixed cut-off at 175 °C
- 09FansTwo 24 V turbine fans, for cooling
- 10Control panelSimatic S7-1200 PLC
Operating sequence
- 01
Load the bottles
Set the catch and rest the bottle on the fixed base. Two bottles go through per cycle.
- 02
Start the cycle
Pick the mode the batch needs. This is where the operator's job ends.
- 03
Corking
The pistons drive the cork into the neck. Corks drop from the hopper and the jaws guide them in.
- 04
Waxing
The bottles turn 180° and dip into a tray of molten wax, which gives the neck its airtight seal.
- 05
Stamping
A cam mechanism drives the seals horizontally and stamps the mark into the wax while it is still soft.
Three operations, one frame
The same structure serves the three stages. Shown without the side panels.
Jaws
A pair of jaws squeezes the cork before it reaches the bottle, so it enters the neck already compressed. Without them the piston would have to do that work against the glass.
Corking head
One pneumatic actuator drives both pistons. The corks fall straight out of the hopper and are guided into the jaws.
The wax tray
The tray holds the molten wax at two depths. Keeping a reserve at the deeper level means the wax stays pre-heated without cooking the mix already in use.
Parts and materials
SAE 1010 steel
- Cabinet sides, base and top
- Cabinet front and back plates
- Lid and hinges
- Fan brackets
- Frame tube, 35×35×2 mm
AISI 304 stainless
- Pressed wax tray
- Tray divider
- Tray tabs
- Tray base
- Ø11 mm threaded rod, ×6
Turned AISI 1045
- Cam
- Followers, ×2
- Stamping seals, ×2
Bought in
- Simatic S7-1200 PLC
- IP65 pushbutton station
- T-handle cabinet lock
- NEMA 17 steppers, ×3
- 24 V turbine fans, ×2
- Bimetal thermostats, 175 °C
- 550 W and 200 W heating elements
What the machine is for
One process instead of three
Corking, waxing and stamping normally live in three different places, and for a small winery at least one of them means an outside service. Bringing them together is what makes the finish affordable at this scale.
Semi-automatic on purpose
Full automation would have priced the machine out of the market it was designed for. The operator loads and chooses; the machine does the part that needs to be repeatable.
The wax is the point
A wax seal is not only a closure: it is what a bottle uses to say who made it. The machine treats that finish as a brand decision, not a leftover step.