Quick specs for your brief
The liquid route pairs a pump with a nozzle on each lane. Review viscosity at the filling temperature, particle passage and cutoff behavior together; a slim stick and a wider four-side-seal sachet have separate volume and tooling ranges.
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| Input or item | Typical value or source | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Stick dose | About 1–30 ml in the four-lane reference | Check single-use opening and residue |
| Four-side-seal sachet | Up to about 50 ml in the reference configuration | Confirm separate format tooling |
| Liquid condition | Buyer data: filling temperature, viscosity and particles | Assess the full liquid path |
| Pack width | Reference widths: 15–60 mm sticks; 30–80 mm four-side-seal sachets | Do not apply the full range to one pack type |
| Accepted output | Reference 120–200 packs/min across four lanes | Verify on actual formulation, fill and film |
What is a liquid stick pack, and when does it fit?
A liquid stick pack is a narrow single-serve pack of film, sealed along its length and across both ends, that holds one measured dose of a liquid or gel: about 1–30 ml in the four-lane reference configuration. Energy gels, liquid supplements and concentrates are typical uses. A wider four-side-seal sachet, up to about 50 ml in the same reference range, is the neighboring format when the dose or the pack shape calls for more room.
Brands choose the format for a single dose that is carried, torn open and squeezed out in one use, with no cup, spoon or bottle. The portion is measured by a pump at the machine rather than by the user, and several lanes produce identical packs in each cycle, which suits long runs of one product and dose.
The format also has limits worth checking before the machine. A thick gel can cling to the film, so part of the dose may stay in the pack; check how fully filled samples empty when squeezed. Viscous or particulate products run slower and may need a heated, agitated hopper. A narrow pack is harder for some users to open, so the tear notch and opening position matter. Product that strings or drips at the nozzle can contaminate the end seal, which is why cut-off is tested on your formulation.
Use a liquid stick pack when the product pumps at a stated temperature, the dose is one serving within the stick range and the pack is opened once. Look at another format when the product must be resealed, the dose is larger, or trials show product staying on the seal area. The stick pack vs sachet guide compares the formats in full; this page covers the machine.
Related reading: Stick Pack vs Sachet: Which Format to Use; Energy Gel Stick Pack Machine
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| Question | A liquid stick pack tends to fit when | Look at another format when |
|---|---|---|
| Dose | One serving within about 1–30 ml | The dose is larger or covers several servings |
| Product flow | The product pumps at its filling temperature and cuts off cleanly at the nozzle | Particles, stringing or thickening keep product on the seal area in trials |
| Use | The pack is torn open and emptied in one go | The product must be resealed after opening |
| Emptying | Filled samples empty acceptably when squeezed | A thick product leaves more in the pack than your quality checks accept |
Discuss this configuration
Discuss on WhatsAppWhich liquids and gels can a stick pack machine fill?
Thin liquids, concentrates and viscous gels such as energy gels and liquid supplements can all be packed in sticks, but each poses a different filling problem. A liquid stick pack machine has to deliver a measured dose and leave the sealing area clean enough to close. Describe the formulation, the dose and the temperature at the machine inlet, plus any particles, foaming, settling in storage or thickening after standing. A room-temperature sample may not behave like product arriving warm from your process.
Explain how the product is prepared, held and transferred to the machine, and whether it arrives continuously or in batches. The pump, contact parts and nozzles need to suit those conditions. Include the upstream connections in the discussion, so your process team and the machine supplier agree where their responsibilities meet.
Related reading: Peanut Butter Stick Pack Feasibility & Sample Trial
Pump, hopper and product circuit
The quotation should name every part of the liquid path from the supply connection to the nozzles: hopper or inlet, pumps, distribution connections, hoses, valves and filling outlets. In the reference configuration each lane has its own piston or servo pump. Ask how that pump covers your portion range and how the operator switches between approved settings. Liquid moving through a hose on a bench says little about a complete multi-lane filling sequence.
A jacketed, heated and agitated hopper is an option for viscous products. Your product team should specify whether it is needed, for example to keep a thick gel pumpable. If you request temperature control, state which parts of the circuit it must cover and how temperature will be monitored. Test the product after refills and waiting periods as well as during steady running.
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| Item | Review before ordering |
|---|---|
| Product contact parts | Material compatibility and access for cleaning |
| Dosing system | Dose range, viscosity and particulate tolerance |
| Temperature control | Whether heating, insulation or agitation is required |
| Cleaning | Disassembly, flushing and any proposed cleaning-in-place scope |
| Sealing | Film compatibility and product residue at the seal |
How do anti-drip nozzles keep liquid out of the seal?
Suck-back nozzles draw a small amount of product back into the outlet at the end of each dose, so a drop does not land on the film where the end seal will form. That only works when nozzle position, dose timing and the interval before sealing are set together for your formulation. Watch for product hanging at the outlet, strings between nozzle and dose, and residue near the end seal, and record the settings with each observation so contamination in a finished pack can be traced.
Build deliberate pauses and restarts into the trial, because the first packs after a wait often differ from those in an uninterrupted run. Collect samples by lane and by stage, then compare fill and seal appearance before changing settings. A close-up video of a clean nozzle cut-off is useful, but the finished pack still has to pass your inspection and opening checks after it has been formed, filled and cut.
Related reading: Energy Gel Stick Pack Machine
Stick or sachet: pack geometry and film path
Choose between a slim stick and a wider four-side-seal sachet from a finished-pack drawing showing width, length, seals, cut and opening feature. The two formats use different forming, sealing and cutting hardware even for the same gel; in the reference configuration a stick holds about 1–30 ml and a sachet up to about 50 ml. Confirm the included format and tooling before ordering printed film or treating a sample from another platform as the production design.
Provide the film structure, thickness, roll dimensions and supplier material code; the reference film reel width is about 400–480 mm. Check the registration mark and artwork against the coding and cutting positions. During the trial, look at how much headspace the filled volume leaves for closing, and test grip, tearing and emptying on filled packs. If several pack sizes are planned, ask for a changeover description that separates operator settings from the parts that must be swapped.
Further reading: Check filled volume and finished-pack dimensions; Confirm film structure and the approved reel layout
Cleaning and service access for the liquid path
List every part that touches product, from the supply connection and hopper through pumps, hoses and valves to the nozzles, and how each is reached for cleaning. Ask which parts come off and which stay assembled. If a cleaning-in-place interface is offered, document what it reaches and what still needs manual work or extra equipment. A connection described as cleaning-ready is not yet a procedure your plant can follow.
Your product and quality teams decide the checks required before the next batch is released. Review material compatibility, reassembly instructions and the pump seals or contact parts that wear in routine service. Measure changeover from the last accepted pack of one product to the first accepted pack of the next, including draining, cleaning, inspection and setup. That figure is far more useful to production planning than the time for a single flush.
How fast is a four-lane liquid stick pack machine?
As a reference range, a four-lane liquid stick pack machine reaches about 120–200 packs per minute, with a piston or servo pump per lane and suck-back nozzles to limit drips on the seal area. Viscosity and fill volume decide where a project falls in that range: thick or heated products and products with particles run slower than thin liquids.
These four-lane configuration ranges support the initial equipment comparison. The quotation specifies output, fill range and dose accuracy for the agreed product, film and pack size; factory acceptance testing checks those requirements under recorded conditions.
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| Parameter | Typical reference range |
|---|---|
| Lanes | 4 in the reference configuration; other lane counts are quoted per project |
| Output | About 120–200 packs per minute, depending on viscosity and fill volume |
| Fill volume | About 1–30 ml per stick pack; up to about 50 ml in four-side-seal sachets |
| Pack length | About 50–180 mm |
| Pack width | About 15–60 mm for sticks; 30–80 mm for four-side-seal sachets |
| Film reel width | About 400–480 mm |
| Dosing | Piston or servo pump per lane with suck-back anti-drip nozzles |
| Options | Jacketed, heated and agitated hopper for viscous products |
| Power supply | About 3.5–4.5 kW; 220 V or 380 V, 50/60 Hz, matched to the destination grid |
| Machine weight | About 750–850 kg |
| Footprint | About 1.6 × 1.2 m and about 2.1 m high, excluding feed tanks and platforms |
Matching machine output to the rest of the line
Line capacity is set by accepted packs per minute over your daily operating pattern, not by the filler alone. Check that product supply, refills and finished-pack handling can keep pace with that target. Coding, conveyors, counting and cartoning may be supplied separately; agree who owns each mechanical and control interface, and what the packer does when a downstream station stops accepting packs.
In evaluation, keep mechanical cycle rate apart from finished output that passes the agreed checks. Record the run time, active lanes, sample results and rejects together with the product and film used, including stops, restarts and supply changes. If the line will run several formulations, note which were tested and which still need assessment, so one good demonstration is not applied to every product in the schedule.
What we supply with a liquid stick pack machine
We build liquid and gel stick pack machines to order at our manufacturing base in Foshan, Guangdong, China, and have built packaging machinery since 2013. Each machine is configured around your formulation, dose and pack format, and a single-machine order is quoted the same way as a larger project.
Around the machine, a project can include a sample trial on your liquid before the configuration is fixed, a factory acceptance test against criteria agreed in the quotation, installation and operator training arranged remotely, on site or both, and spare and change parts such as pump seals, hoses and nozzles. Scope, fees and timing for each are set in the quotation, so ask for every item as a separate line.
The What to send us section is the shared project brief. Mark unknown fields as provisional; the team can follow up on missing details.
Related reading: Stick Pack Machine Sample Testing; Stick Pack Machine FAT Checklist; Stick Pack Machine Installation & Training; Stick Pack Machine Spare & Change Parts; Request a Stick Pack Machine Quote
Documents to request for a liquid filler
Request a configuration list covering pumps, nozzles, hopper options and product-contact materials. Add the agreed factory acceptance criteria and the results for your machine to the document list in the quotation. The installation team then has a record of what was ordered and tested.
Operating instructions, a spare-parts list for pump seals, hoses and nozzles, and control-cabinet wiring diagrams are further common requests; check which ones the quotation includes. Any compliance documentation your market requires is a separate topic to raise directly. Keep the set with the trial results so installation and service teams work from one reference.
Planning honey film stick packs
For honey portions, confirm the pack format before selecting the filling arrangement. Our honey application guide distinguishes roll-fed film sticks from plastic straws and sets out the honey, film and sample information needed for a useful trial.
Related reading: Honey Stick Pack Machine
From liquid-path review to machine specification
Use the liquid-path review to connect the inlet conditions with the proposed pump and nozzle. Follow the formulation through refill, dose delivery and cutoff, including pauses that change temperature or settling. Match the hose and valve passage to the largest particles, and check that cleaning access reaches the full circuit. Keep the inlet and downstream interfaces on the installation drawing.
Agree in advance what the sample trial will establish: dose results by lane, finished-pack checks, restart behavior and how cleaning or changeover went. Keep the results tied to the tested material, format and settings. The quotation should then list supplied components, optional items, documentation and service scope, so the equipment proposal can be traced back to your application and acceptance criteria.
Common Questions
What is a liquid stick pack?
It is a slim single-serve pack of film, sealed along its length and across both ends, holding one dose of a liquid or gel, about 1–30 ml in the four-lane reference configuration. It is torn open and squeezed out in one use; energy gels and liquid supplements are typical products.
Why use liquid stick packs?
For a measured single dose that users carry and open without a cup, spoon or bottle. The dose is set by the pump at the machine, and a multi-lane machine makes identical packs on every lane in each cycle, which suits long runs of one product and dose.
When is a liquid stick pack a poor fit?
When the product must be resealed, when the dose is larger than one serving, or when a thick product leaves more in the pack than your quality checks accept. Products that string or drip at the nozzle can also contaminate the seal. Test filled samples for emptying, opening and seal cleanliness before deciding.
What fill volume can a liquid stick pack machine handle?
The four-lane reference configuration fills about 1–30 ml per stick pack, or up to about 50 ml in four-side-seal sachets, with pack widths of about 15–60 mm for sticks or 30–80 mm for four-side-seal sachets. Send your target volume and pack drawing so the pump and forming parts are matched to them.
Can a liquid stick pack machine fill products with particles?
It can be assessed, but particles affect pump and nozzle selection, and products with particles generally run slower than thin liquids within the reference output of about 120–200 packs per minute across four lanes. Describe the particle size and share, and send a real sample for the trial.
What causes a liquid stick pack to leak at the seal?
A leak usually means product reached the seal area or the film and seal settings do not suit the product. Check nozzle cut-off and timing first, then the film. Inspect end seals on packs from every lane after pauses and restarts as well as in a steady run, and keep the settings with each sample.
How much floor space does a liquid stick pack machine need?
The four-lane reference machine occupies about 1.6 × 1.2 m, stands about 2.1 m high and weighs about 750–850 kg, excluding feed tanks and platforms. Add room for operator access, product supply, film loading and downstream conveyors when you lay out the area.