In our ever-evolving quest to provide more jobs for the community that we serve, Lions Services is developing specially adapted machines for filling bottles with liquid. These machines will allow employees with visual impairments to fill and cap bottles with precisely metered liquid products. Lions will be producing a line of hand washes and other liquid cleaning products in the near future. These machines are a big part of what will make those products possible for us to manufacture and will be the beginning of a Janitorial and Sanitation product line available for sale through the Lions Clean brand.

Three different filling systems are being developed to handle different bottle sizes and liquid product types. They operate using 3D printed loading trays and a rail system that allow the machines to be operated by touch.

These systems are being designed and built internally by our product development team, facilities manager, and mechanics as part of a months long effort to expand our manufacturing capabilities. The machines make extensive use of recycled and reclaimed materials and are specially designed for ease of repair.

Creating these systems would not have been possible without input and assistance from other organizations. We’d like to thank Makerspace CLT for assistance with cutting and welding as well as providing access to necessary tools, Grainger branch 128 for donating some of the control system parts that we’re using, Crafty Wizard for being so helpful with the 3D printed parts of these systems, and Charlotte Community Toolbank for making equipment available to us. This truly has been a tremendous effort from both our team and the broader community!

Look out for Lions Clean products to be released in the near future, and support creating more jobs for the blind!

Lions Services would like to thank a private foundation for their support through a grant assisting us with the purchase of the adaptive mechanical devices and fixtures that were needed to establish the hand soap department. Their support played a critical role in the creation of new jobs for the blind and visually impaired community of Charlotte promoting independence and a better quality of life.