In the late 1800’s and early 1900’s, the invention of the double seam – a means of folding 5 layers of material in a way that interlocks a can end with a can body – transformed Food and Beverage packaging by eliminating the need for soldered seams to achieve a hermetic seal.
By 1910, Henry L. Guenther had taken this advancement to the next level by designing and patenting the first machinery to create these double seams on cans. With that invention, the Angelus Sanitary Can Machine company was founded, with a vision of creating the finest machines of their kind, anywhere in the world.
Today, more than a century later, and with more than 16,000 seamers sold in 132 countries across the globe, Henry’s vision has been realized, and the Angelus name is still recognized as the standard for excellence in seaming technology and equipment.
Joined with Pneumatic Scale Corporation in 2007, the combined company of Pneumatic Scale Angelus is a global leader in the design and manufacture of packaging machinery for liquid and dry filling, capping, can seaming, and labelling applications as well as state-of-the-art container handling solutions. The company is a division of BW Packaging under the Barry-Wehmiller umbrella of companies.
In recent years, the company has introduced the Angelus V-Series line, designed to meet the specific needs of the Food and Beverage markets. The same technology used for high-speed seaming applications has also been scaled for the needs of the craft beverage space. Angelus has manufacturing facilities in Ohio in the United States, as well as its Parma, Italy location.
In nearly all markets Angelus serves, concerns for sustainability and increased, pandemic-driven demand for shelf-stable products created a surge in can demand and a subsequent shortage of them. Though pressures have eased somewhat, with can makers working aggressively to increase production, it will still take time for supply to catch up with demand.
In addition, the lightweighting of cans brings challenges to seaming equipment, as lighter cans can often lead to an increased risk for can damage during production and even transportation. Seamer suppliers like Angelus are responding with innovations to seamer design and container handling.
For Pneumatic Scale Angelus, consistent communication with can makers helps drive not only future product design, but also current partnerships with customers to analyze production and mitigate potential areas for damage, not only at the seamer, but also upstream and downstream from the seaming process.
Angelus currently has patents pending for several new developments in seamer design and container handling that it believes will provide superior solutions for its customers, as well as a competitive advantage for the company.
When asked about the future of seamers for Food and Non-Food cans, Thomas Thiel, Product Line Leader for Can Seaming replied, “Angelus continues serving the Food and Beverage markets with seamers specially designed to address their unique needs. We have a long history of innovation in seaming, and we are excited about our plans to continue that legacy well into the future.’
