VariablesinBottleCapTorqueTesting

by
GaborSzakacs
MesaLaboratories

I. Abstract
Today's manufacturing operations are very
concernedwithlooseorstrippedcapswhichwill
clearly affect product freshness, product
stability,shelflifeandpossiblyleakage.Stability
isofparticularconcern,sincemoisturesensitive
or pressurized products require that the
integrity of the container closure and seal be
maintained. Loose/stripped caps can lead to
bothpackageandproductissuesduetotheloss
ofnitrogeninnoncarbonateddrinksorcarbon
dioxideinsodasoradditionofmoisturetoadry
productcancausecontamination,discoloration,
significant changes in potency/taste, and
thereby, affect the quality of the product. To
maintain/improve process control, it is very
important to monitor the closure integrity
continuously.Forthispurposetherearevarious
torquetestingdevicesavailableonthemarket,
however it is rarely mentioned, that closure
integritytestresultsareinfluencedbyanumber
ofvariables.Inthiswhitepaper,wewillfocuson
thevariousfactorsthatinfluencethereadoutof
torque analyzers and recommend methods to
eliminatetheeffectofparasitictorqueerrors.

II. Introduction
Inthepast,captorquetestingwasassimpleas
grabbing a container from the production line
and manually checking how tight the cap felt.
Due to the subjective feeling of cap tightness,
over time the industry shifted toward using
more objective measurement devices, spring
basedbenchtopandhandheldtorquetesters.

It did not take long before Quality Assurance

personnelrealizedthelimitationsofthespring
baseddevices.Additionally,enteringthe1990s
thereweresomuchmoretoconsider:changes
in materials, marketing themes, package
aesthetics, transportation methods, packaging
processes such as induction sealing and hot
filling.Productliability,versatility,compatibility
andergonomicissuesmadecappingandtorque
testingmuchmorethanjustplacingacapona
bottle and turning it by hand. As a result,
automatedtorquetestersemerged.Whilemost
oftheseautomatedtestersprovideagreatway
toreduceoperatorvariation,itisstillcrucialto
understandalloftheprocessvariablesthatmay
influencethetorquetestresults.

III. VariablesinTorqueTesting
1.Closuregrippingpressure:
Differentcapfinishescanbesecuredinatorque
tester using different gripping methods.
Especially with newer, light weight closure
designs,manualgrippingcandistortthecapand
introduce an operator dependent torque error
betweenthecontainerandclosurethreads.

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they can address all of shortcomings of the

serratedchuckdesign.

In order to overcome the variation introduced

bymanualgripping,custommolded,3dprinted
ormachinedserratedchuckscanbeusedfor
securingthecapsduringthetorquetest.

While these type of chucks are great for

eliminating the torque error introduced by
grippingpressurevariation,therearealsosome
disadvantages of using them. Due to the large
varietyofserrationtypesandcapdiameters,a
qualitydepartmentischallengedwiththehigh
costofchangepartsandthemanagementofthe
various serrated chucks. Other disadvantages
includethedifficultyofaligningthechuckwith
theclampedbottle/capandtheinabilitytowork
withsmoothclosures,pumpdispensercapsand
otheruniqueclosuredesigns.

Alternatively,mechanicallyactuatedchucksare
available on the market and with careful
package analysis and pressure configuration

Forexample,oneairactuatedchucksizeworks
well for multiple serration types for the same
cap diameter and by optimizing the gripping
pressure, the removal torque results are
comparable to those measured with serrated
chucks.

Whilemanypackagesarenotsensitivetochuck
pressure variation because of the harder
material (phenolic) or more robust structural
design of the cap (child resistant caps), others
can be extremely sensitive to the gripping
pressure(lightweightcapsandclosuresmade
offlexiblematerials).

Examples of the deformation caused by chuck

pressure variation are shown on the pictures
below.

LightweightBeveragecapat30and70PSI
grippingpressures

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detectingthedropinthetorqueafterthethread
break.
Thegraphatthebottomofthepageshowsan
exampleofincreasingthreadbreaktorqueinthe
function of increasing cap gripping pressure.
Each data point on the graph represents the
averageof10releasetorquemeasurementsat
thegivenpressure.

2.Bottlegrippingpressure:
Itisnotascommontoseethetorquereadout
influenced by the bottle clamping pressure,
nevertheless it can also desensitize the
automated release torque measurement and
contributetovariationsintheresult:

LightweightBeverageCapat40and70PSI
grippingpressures

RubberLuerLockCapat30and70PSIgripping
pressures

Inmostcasesthevisibledeformationcanreduce
themeasurementsensitivityorresultsinhigher
releasetorquevalues.Decreasedmeasurement
sensitivity can cause torque testers to fail
ReleaseTorque(ozfin)

Distortioncausedbyexcessivebottleclamping
pressureinamanualclampingtable

ReleaseTorquevs.CapGrippingPressure

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Distortioncausedbyexcessivebottleclamping
pressureinanautomaticclampingsystem

The distortion of the bottle opening is most

oftenvisibleasseenontheimagesabove.The
torque error introduced by the excessive
clamping can be easily evaluated by rotating a
loose cap on the bottle threads. A clamping
pressuresensitivebottlewillproducenoticeably
higher torque (blue line) compared to the
torque on a bottle that is clamped with
optimizedpressure(orangeline).Whenthereis
noticeable drag between the bottle and cap
threads, the operator should reduce the
clampingpressuretotheoptimallevelatwhich
point the bottle is not slipping but the cap
rotates with minimal torque. The clamping
pressuremustbeverifiedatthelowandthehigh
process limits to ensure the bottle clamping
Torque(lbfin)

configuration will work for the normal

measurementrange.

3.Topload
While many pharmaceutical and chemical
applications require some kind of top load
controlforthesuccessfulreleasetorquetesting
ofaCRclosure,excessiveandvaryingtopload
canalsocontributetotorqueerrors.

Increasedpressureonlinerandlargercontact
areasmayresultinhigherreleasetorque
readouts

Similartothecapandbottlegrippingsensitivity,
the top load sensitivity of the release torque
measurement largely depends on the specific
package design (cap/bottle/liner materials,
dimensions). The optimal top load should be

Rotatingaloosecaponaclampingpressuresensitivebottle

2.5

1.5

0.5

Time(~5sspan)

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evaluated and optimized for each product

individually.
Certainapplicationsrequireminimizedtopload
during the rotation of the cap, for example,
when testing the thread break, seal break and
bridgebreaktorqueofaclosurewithatamper
evidentband.
Minimized top load is also beneficial when
measuring the snap torque of the tamper
evident band during a cap tightening cycle or
whenmeasuringtorqueonaloosecap.Agood
representationofatoploadsensitivepackageis
shownonthegraphbelow.Thebluedatapoints
represent the torque measured between the
threads of a loose cap in the presence of
excessivetopload,whiletheorangedatapoints
show substantially lower torque values due to
thereducedverticalforce.
Whilesomechildresistantclosuresonlyrequire
aninitialtoploadtoengagetheoutershellwith
theinnercap,itisbesttooptimizeandmaintain
theverticalforceduringthemeasurement,and
thisisespeciallytrueforCRclosuresfeaturinga
tamperevidentband.
Torque(lbfin)

One of the bigger challenges in automated

torque testing is also related to top load
sensitivity. In many applications there is a
requirement to detect a loose childresistant
cap, however when appropriate top load is
appliedontheCRclosure,duetothetopload
introducedtorquebetweenthecapandbottle
threads or between the opening of the bottle
andtheliner,theloosecapswillproducetorque
valuesthatmeetorexceedtheacceptablelow
processlimit.

Whileitispreferabletocarefullyspecifythecap,
linerandbottlematerialsanddesignstoavoid
thesekindofqualityassuranceproblemsduring
production,alternativeprocesslimitsmaybere
established and/or customized release torque
validation methods can be developed to
differentiate between top load sensitive loose
andtightCRclosures.

Torquepeaksofatoploadsensitive"loose"cap

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4.Angularspeedofrotationvs.samplingrate
oftheAnalogtoDigitalconverter
Whenthecapsarerotatedonthebottleneck,
anothervariabletoconsideristhespeedofthe
rotation. The angular speed can influence the
torque readout in a number of different ways.
On a manually operated, analog/spring based
torque tester for example, as the needle is
accelerating the peak indicator, depending on
thespeedandthemassoftheindicator,itmay
travelwellbeyondtheactualpeaktorquedueto
itsmomentum.

For this reason, it is very important to control

thetorqueramp/angularaccelerationofthecap
inordertoavoidtorquereadouterrors.
On digital torque testers however another
critical parameter must be considered: the
samplingtimeoftheAnalogtoDigitalconverter.

When the angular speed of the cap is fast

comparedtotheconversiontimeoftheanalog
todigitalconverter,theremovaltorquereadout
may be considerably lower than the real peak
value. The error originating from the slow
samplingspeedshouldnotbeconfusedwiththe
quantizationerror.

The error originating from the insufficient

samplingtimecanbebestrepresentedusingthe
followinggraphs.

Onthefirstgraph,theanalogtorquesignal(red)
sampledusinga12bit,100mssamplingtimeAD
converter. The green lines represent the times
atwhichtheanalogsignalissampledbythe

analogdigital converter. The peak readout in

thisexampleis~4.9lbfinat200ms.

Onthesecondgraph,thesamesignalissampled
usinga12bit,10mssamplingtimeADconverter.
Clearly, the real peak torque is captured more
accuratelyat160msec,atavalueof~5.5lbfin.

Formoreinformation,aboutdigitizationerrors,
please refer to the NyquistShannon sampling
theoremandthequantizationnoise.

Fortunately, there are various dynamic torque

references available on the market allowing
operators to analyze and verify the analog
sampling speed and transient behavior of
manual and automatic torque testers. These
devices typically use magnets to create
repeatable attracting and repelling peaks,
simulatingthethreadbreaktorqueofaclosure.

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5.Processvariables
Torque variation are often introduced by
variationsinthepackagingprocess.Acoupleof
examplesareincludedinthesectionbelow.

Inductionsealing
Asaresultoftheinductionheatingofthemetal
foil inside the cap, the bottle and cap may
deform, expand then shrink. Because the cap
and the bottle are typically made of different
plastics, the timing and the rates of
expansion/shrinkingisdifferent,asaresultthe
torque between the threads can change
considerably before and after the induction
sealingprocess.

A typical induction sealing related torque

degradationtrendisshownonthegraphbelow.
After tightening 20 caps to 15lbfin torque, we
measured the removal torque on 10 bottles
before (blue line) and 10 bottles after (orange
line)atypicalinductionsealingprocess

The noticeable difference between the release

torque values before (blue) and after (orange)
theinductionsealingprocesscanbeinfluenced
Torque(lbfin)

bytheenergy/proximityoftheelectromagnetic
field, the speed of the conveyor (dwell time
within the induction field), the application
torque,metalfoiltype,etc.

In order to ensure proper sealing and product

integrity,itisimportanttoapplyenoughtorque
onthecapsothefoiliscompressedfirmlyonto
the opening of the bottle. One mistake often
madeistheovertorquingofthecap.

By overtorquing it is possible to achieve good

removal torque values after the induction
sealing process, but high application torque
increases the chance of the threads stripping
during the tightening cycle and the excessive
torquemaybreakthecaporcreatewrinkleson

Threadbreaktorquebeforeandafterinductionsealing

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themetalfoil.Asaresult,thewrinkledfoilisnot
sealed properly and the product shelf life is
reducedsignificantly.
Agoodapproachtopackaginginductionsealed
products is to tighten the closures to a torque
rangethatisoptimalforseatingthesealonthe
bottlethenaftertheinductionsealing,thecap
canbesecuredonthebottlethreadsbyutilizing
ashrinkwrapperand/orretorquer.

Hotfilling
Another good example of torque variation
introduced by a packaging process variable is
presented by hot fill bottling and steam cap
applications.Duringthehotfillprocess,the80
90C product transfers heat directly to the
bottle/cap. Fill temperature variation, the
differentthermalexpansioncontractionratesof
differentcap,linerandbottlematerials,varying
dwelltimesbetweencaptighteningandrelease
torquemeasurementscanallresultindifferent
release torque values. When the torque is
appliedrightafterhotfilling,thecapissoftand
asthecapiscoolingandshrinkingtheremoval
torque increases. The relationship between
product temperature and release torque is
Torque(lbfin)

shownonthegraphatthebottomofthepage.
Caps were tightened to 18lbfin, then removal
torquemeasurementsweretakenimmediately
afterhotfilling(blueline)andaftercooldown
toroomtemperature(orangeline).
80
60
40
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Temperatureinsidethebottleafterhotfilling(F)

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Pressureinsidethebottleafterhotfilling(PSIA)

Releasetorqueimmediatelyafterhotfillingandaftercooldown
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Typically products are sampled for fill

volume/weight and cap removal torque values
shortly after the hotfill process. In order to
ensure correct opening performance after the
cooldownperiod,itisimportanttounderstand
theeffectofdwelltimeandthermalcontraction
ontheremovaltorquevalueoftheclosure.

It is the subject of a future white paper to

evaluate the effect of internal pressure and
headspace volume variations to the thread
breaktorqueoftheclosureaswellascomparing
the degradation caused by dwell time to the
torque increase caused by the thermal
contractionofthecap.

Spills
Certain products and materials are more
sensitivetospillsthanothers.Duringfilling,itis
possiblethattheproductspillsonthethreadsor
theliner/seal.Whilethespilledproductcanact
asalubricantduringthecappingprocess,after
storage/drying it can leave a residue with
threadlocking properties. A good example is
displayedonthepicturebelow.

Due to the thread locking properties of such

product residue, the release torque readouts
can be considerably higher and the product
appearance/qualityisalsoadverselyaffected.

F.Dwelltimeandtherepeatedopening/closing
ofaclosure
The dwell is defined as the time interval
between the cap tightening and the release
torque measurements. In various experiments,

ithasbeenestablishedthatreleasetorquelevels
are highest immediately after application and
thengraduallydecreasetoastablelevelovera
periodoftime(hourstodays).Therateofthe
release torque decay is greatest in the first
couple of hours then it gradually decreases
before reaching its stable level. Transportation
(vibration), thermal stress (varying storage
temperatures)andproductionprocessessuchas
induction sealing, hot filling or the use of heat
activated/sterilizedpackagedesignscanamplify
oroffsetthetorquedecayingeffectofthedwell
time.

6.Productvariations
Changes that are not noticeable to the naked
eye, such as minor variations in the material
composition, the dimension of the cap, bottle,
liner, can also influence the repeatability of
release torque values and the reliability of the
automated release torque measurement. A
goodexampleisaChildResistantclosurewitha
top load sensitive liner. The closure system
required20+lbftoploadtoconsistentlyengage
the outer shell with the inner cap when the
closurewastightenedtothehighspecification
limit. Due to material or process changes the
coefficient of friction between the opening of
the bottle and the liner changed considerably
from one batch to another, desensitizing the
releasetorquedetectiontothepointwherethe
system was unable to differentiate between
loosecapandproperlytorquedcaps.

Anotherexampleisshownonthepictureatthe
topofthenextpage.Whilethecapontheleft
side is rigid, impossible to collapse by manual
gripping, the cap on the right side is from a
different batch and it is quite flexible, easily
distortedbyminimalgrippingpressure.

While it is possible to address these issues by

developingcustomizedreleasetorque

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validation methods and gripping pressure, top

loadoptimization,itisabetterpracticetotest
thebottle,capandlinerforcompatibilityduring
theinitialpackageevaluationprocess.

7.Releasetorquevalidationmethod
Intheautomaticdetectionofthethreadbreak
torque, there are two commonly used modes:
fallback/sensitivity and rotation based release
torquevalidation.

Fallback/sensitivity based release torque

validation
Thisisthefastestandmostcosteffectivewayto
measure the thread break torque of a closure.
However,forthetestingofCRclosures,special
attentionmustbemadetothefinetuningofthe
sensitivityofthemeasurementsystem.

In order to differentiate between the torque

peaksattheengagementoftheoutershellwith
theinnercap,theratchetingoftheoutershell
andtheactualthreadbreak,theoperatormust
evaluate and adjust the fallback/sensitivity of
themeasurement.

Rotationbasedreleasetorquevalidation
Assuming that appropriate top load is applied
and the cap/bottle is not slipping during the
tests,theangleofrotationcanbealsousedto
validatetorquetransients.ForCRclosures,the
rotationlimitmustbesetaccordingtotheworst
case scenario of the shell engagement,
thereforetherequiredrotationmaygoashigh
as60degrees.
To understand the differences between the
different methods please look at the graph at
thebottomofthepage.
If fallback based validation is used during the
measurementandthefallbackissetat<1.5lbfin,
the tester will validate the first peak in <25
degrees and display the peak torque
immediatelyaftertheoutershellengagedwith
the inner cap. Obviously this is a false release
torque readout, therefore the fallback value
must be increased well above the 1.5lbfin
engagement peak in order to detect the real

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10

thread break. Similarly, a rotation based

validationconfiguredto10degreesofrotation
willnotdisplaythecorrectthreadbreaktorque
consistently.

Afterthecarefulanalysisofthepotentialtorque
transients, an operator can use either the
fallbackbased(>1.5lbfin)ortherotationbased
(>40degrees)validations.

8.Applicationtorque
Variations are often introduced by inline and
chuck capping equipment as well. Changes in
magnetic/electrical or pneumatic settings on
chuck capper heads and the speed/pressure
applied by the inline spindle/belt type capping
stations can influence the application and
removal torque. In a production environment
theapplicationtorqueistypicallyunknownbut
thecapperchucksorspindlesystemisadjusted
accordingtothereleasetorqueresults.
Generally,thehighertheapplicationtorque,the
higherthethreadbreaktorque.Thisistrueupto
thestriptorquewhenthethreadsbreak/deform
irreversiblyduringthecaptighteningcycle.Ifthe
manufacturerofthecap/bottledoesnotprovide
recommendedtorquespecifications,itisbestto
start with an application torque setting that
equalsthecapdiameterinmmdividedby2(in
lbfin).

The release torque/applied torque quotient

dependsonthespecificcap/bottle/linerdesign
andthecontrolofthepreviouslylistedvariables.
It is usually in the range of 0.60.9, higher for
glass and lower for plastic bottles. It is not
uncommontoseevaluesoutofthisrange,but
extremely high quotients typically indicate the
presence of torque errors introduced in the
torquemeasurement.

IV. Conclusion
As demand is continuously placed on all
productstohaveextendedshelflife,improved

ergonomics, lower cost and improved

appearance, application issues continue to
emerge.Inordertoachievemaximumshelflife,
the closure must create the best possible seal
and the only way to ensure this is through
continuous release torque monitoring at the
productionline.

As previously shown, a number of different

variablescancreateaparasitictorquebetween
thethreads,changingthetorqueresultsorde
sensitizing the automated release torque
measurement of threaded closures. To
overcome these issues it is essential to
understandallthevariablesaffectingthetorque
between threaded closures, optimize change
partsandtheconfigurationofthetorquetesting
equipmentaccordingly.

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