Dongguan Zhongneng Machinery: Leading the innovation of the plastic cup edge rolling equipment industry in the thermoforming industry with innovative technology

Against the backdrop of the contemporary manufacturing industry’s accelerated transformation towards intelligence and precision, technological innovation in the field of thermoforming equipment has become a key force driving the upgrading of the packaging industry. As a leading enterprise in domestic disposable plastic cup rim curling equipment, Dongguan Zhongneng Machinery, with its domestically pioneering four-axis three-channel technology, intelligent automatic mold adjustment system, and a high-speed curling capacity of 1,200 cups per minute, not only provides efficient and high-quality curling solutions for terminal scenarios such as milk tea shops, coffee shops, dessert shops, and restaurants With continuous technological breakthroughs, it has redefined the industry standards for hot-forming flanging equipment, setting a model for the innovative development of “Made in China” in the high-end equipment field.

I. Technological Breakthrough: Precision Manufacturing Innovation of Four-Axis Three-Channel Systems

The core competitiveness of Dongguan Zhongneng Machinery’s edge rolling equipment stems from its domestically pioneering four-axis three-channel linkage system. This technological breakthrough has completely transformed the operation mode of traditional edge rolling equipment. This system builds a three-dimensional precise control system through the coordinated cooperation of the X, Y, Z axes and the rotation axis: the X axis is responsible for the lateral feed of the flanging tool, the Y axis realizes the longitudinal adjustment of the cup mouth positioning, the Z axis controls the vertical application of the flanging pressure, and the rotation axis ensures the uniform and stable rotation of the cup body. The precise linkage of the four axes enables precise control of the force, Angle and speed during the edge rolling process, achieving high-precision processing of cup mouths of different materials and specifications.

The innovative design of the three-channel technology further enhances the adaptability and flexibility of the equipment. The flexible material channel is specifically designed for thin-walled cup bodies such as milk tea cups with a wall thickness of 0.1-0.5mm. It adopts a segmented edge rolling process and, through the torque gradient control of the servo motor, effectively avoids the problem of wrinkles or cracks on the thin-walled cup mouth during the edge rolling process. For the hard material channel, for thick-walled cup bodies such as coffee cups with a wall thickness of 0.5-1.5mm, high-rigidity molds are configured to ensure the tightness of the rolled edges and the surface finish of the thick-walled cup bodies.

This deep integration of “hardware + software” enables the device to demonstrate astonishing precision control capabilities when handling cups of different wall thicknesses. The measured data shows that when processing milk tea cups with a wall thickness of 0.3mm, the error of the rolled edge height can be controlled within ±0.03mm, and the deviation of the rolled edge Angle does not exceed ±1°. When handling coffee cups with a wall thickness of 1.2mm, the pressure fluctuation range of the curling edge is less than ±2%, fully ensuring the uniformity and sealing of the curling edge at the cup mouth. The technical director of a large cup factory commented: “The four-axis three-channel technology of Dongguan Zhongneng Machinery has enabled us to achieve precise production with ‘one parameter per cup’. The complex cup shapes that previously required repeated debugging can now achieve a one-time molding qualification rate of over 99%, significantly enhancing production efficiency and product quality.” “

Ii. Capacity Revolution: Synergistic Efficiency Enhancement through Automatic Mold Adjustment and High-Speed Operation

As another core technology of Dongguan Zhongneng Machinery, the intelligent automatic mold adjustment system has completely overturned the inefficient mold adjustment mode of “manual calibration + repeated trial and error” in traditional edge rolling equipment. This system is equipped with an industrial-grade PLC controller and a visual recognition module, featuring an inbuilt cup-shaped data model. Operators only need to input basic parameters such as the diameter, height, and material of the cup mouth. The device can complete the lateral displacement, longitudinal lifting, and Angle fine-tuning of the mold within 60 seconds through dual detection by a laser distance sensor and an image recognition algorithm. Compared with the traditional chain-pulling mold adjustment which takes over 40 minutes, the efficiency improvement is as high as 98.5%, which means that enterprises can increase their effective production time by more than 3 hours every day. At a rolling speed of 1,200 pieces per minute, the daily production capacity can be increased by an additional 216,000 pieces, and the annual production capacity can be raised by 78.84 million pieces, creating significant economic benefits for the enterprise.

The dynamic error compensation mechanism of the automatic mold adjustment system further demonstrates the advanced nature of the technology. The system automatically corrects the precision deviations caused by equipment operation by monitoring parameters such as mold temperature and wear degree in real time and using machine learning algorithms. During the 12-hour continuous durability test, the pass rate of the equipment’s edge rolling remained above 99.99%, far exceeding the average level of 85% to 90% for traditional equipment. A cup supplier of a certain chain catering group said, “Previously, we had to arrange dedicated personnel to calibrate molds every day. Now, with the automatic mold adjustment system of Dongguan Zhongneng Machinery, not only have we saved labor costs, but also solved the problem of batch defective products caused by manual mold adjustment errors. We can reduce losses by more than 500,000 yuan annually. This is a real benefit improvement for us.”

Iii. Scene Empowerment: Customized solutions meet the diverse needs of various industries

Dongguan Zhongneng Machinery has a profound understanding of the differentiated demands for edge rolling equipment in various industries. It has meticulously constructed an industry-customized solution system, providing precisely adapted technical solutions based on the characteristics of different fields such as beverages, food, and medical care, achieving full-dimensional coverage from standard production to customized demands.

(1) Beverage Industry: Rapid response to enhance market competitiveness

In response to the frequent need of beverage enterprises such as milk tea shops and coffee shops to change cup shapes, Dongguan Zhongneng Machinery’s equipment has specially optimized the quick-change mold structure. Combined with the automatic mold adjustment function, it can achieve an extremely fast response of “15 minutes to switch cup shapes + 8 minutes for trial production and debugging”. After a leading milk tea brand introduced this equipment in 20 production bases across the country, the launch cycle of new cup shapes was shortened from the original 72 hours to 24 hours, greatly enhancing the market response speed. This enabled it to launch new products more quickly in the fierce market competition and seize the market opportunity first.

Meanwhile, to meet the high sealing requirements of coffee cups, the equipment adopts constant-temperature edge rolling technology. Through the PID temperature control system, the mold temperature is stabilized within ±3℃, effectively preventing the oxidation and deterioration of coffee oil due to air leakage at the cup mouth. According to tests by a third-party testing agency, coffee cups with the edges rolled by this device have a 40% better sealing performance and a 30% longer shelf life compared to traditional equipment. This provides coffee shops with a higher-quality packaging solution and helps enhance brand image and consumer satisfaction.

(2) Food packaging: Efficient production to ensure food safety

In the food sector such as sauce cups and snack packaging, after a well-known condiment enterprise introduced this solution, the leakage complaint rate of its takeout sauce cups dropped sharply from 1.8% to below 0.05%. Not only did it significantly reduce after-sales costs, but it also received a 20% increase in the five-star review rate on online platforms due to the “zero leakage” user experience. It effectively enhanced the market reputation of the product.

Iv. Service Value-added: The full-cycle service system builds a new benchmark for industry services

Dongguan Zhongneng Machinery has broken through the traditional equipment manufacturer’s “sales as the end point” model and established a full life cycle service system covering the entire equipment usage cycle, providing customers with all-round value guarantees from pre-sale to after-sale, and setting a new benchmark for industry services.

(1) Pre-sale technical diagnosis: Professional assessment, scientific decision-making

Dongguan Zhongneng Machinery offers free sample testing services. The technical team conducts 500 continuous edge rolling tests based on the cup body samples provided by the customers. They evaluate the equipment compatibility through 15 indicators including pressure testing, leakage detection, and temperature resistance testing, and issue a detailed technical analysis report to help customers make scientific decisions and choose the most suitable equipment and solutions for their own needs.

(2) Precise delivery during sales: Professional installation and efficient training

During the equipment sales process, Dongguan Zhongneng Machinery offers 72-hour on-site installation and commissioning services. Our professional engineer team not only completes the installation and commissioning of the equipment but also optimizes the design based on the customer’s production process to ensure efficient connection between the equipment and the existing production line. Meanwhile, customized training courses are provided for operators, covering equipment operation, daily maintenance, and common fault handling, etc., to ensure that the customer team can master the equipment usage skills proficiently and fully leverage the performance and advantages of the equipment.

V. Future Outlook: The dual tracks of intelligence and greenness drive new industry development

Facing the development trends of intelligent and green manufacturing, Dongguan Zhongneng Machinery has carried out technological layout with a forward-looking perspective. Through the dual-track drive of intelligence and green, it leads the hot forming and edge rolling equipment industry into a new stage of development.

From technological innovation to scene implementation, from equipment manufacturing to service empowerment, Dongguan Zhongneng Machinery, with the mission of “making edge rolling smarter”, continuously promotes technological innovation in the thermoforming equipment industry. Today, as the application scenarios of disposable plastic cups continue to expand, what it creates is not merely a crimping device, but a complete solution that helps enterprises enhance their core competitiveness. With the continuous iteration of the four-axis three-channel technology and the deepening of the intelligent service system, Dongguan Zhongneng Machinery is expected to become a Chinese benchmark in the global thermoforming equipment field in the future, contributing more innovative power to the rise of “Made in China” in the high-end equipment manufacturing field, and promoting the thermoforming flanging equipment industry towards a more intelligent and greener development future.