Technical Application Guide
Gear Chains for High-Speed Beverage and Beer Filling Lines: Engineering Standards, Material Selection & UK Industry Applications
By Senior Application Engineer · Chain & Drive Transmission Division · 18+ Years Field Experience | Updated April 2025
Beverage filling lines sit at the intersection of mechanical precision, food hygiene compliance, and industrial throughput — and few components are asked to perform under as many conflicting demands as the drive chains that keep them running. A modern high-speed filling machine can rotate its main carousel at speeds exceeding 200 rpm, processing well over 100,000 bottles or cans per hour. In that environment, the gear chains transmitting torque from the drive motor to the carousel, infeed conveyor, cap sorter, and labelling station are not simply mechanical fasteners — they are the backbone of line synchronisation.
For beverage producers across the UK — from craft breweries in Yorkshire to large-scale soft drink bottlers in the Midlands, and dairy processors along the South West — selecting the right gear chains is a decision that directly affects output consistency, product quality, line availability, and annual maintenance costs. A chain failure on a filling carousel does not simply stop production for the duration of a repair splice; it typically triggers a full line washdown, re-sterilisation, product waste, and in regulated environments, a complete HACCP incident review. The cost of a single unplanned chain failure on a 100,000-BPH line running three shifts can easily exceed £15,000 when downtime, waste, and labour are totalled.
This guide draws on eighteen years of hands-on application engineering to cover everything a UK procurement manager, maintenance engineer, or production director needs to know about specifying gear chains for beverage and beer filling lines — from material grades and pitch selection through to installation best practices, service intervals, and total cost-of-ownership analysis.
Need a customised gear chain solution for your filling line? Our engineering team responds within 24 hours.
Why Beverage Filling Lines Demand Specialised Gear Chains
Standard transmission chains — the kind that perform reliably on agricultural machinery or automotive assembly lines — tend to deteriorate rapidly in beverage filling environments. The reason is rarely mechanical overload. A typical filling carousel operates at a relatively modest fraction of a drive chain’s rated tensile strength. The problem is environmental. Filling lines operate in a persistent moisture environment: product splashes, condensation from cold bottles entering warm rooms, and above all the regular high-pressure hot water and steam-based cleaning procedures mandated by food safety legislation across the United Kingdom and European Union.
UK beverage manufacturers operating under BRC Global Standards for Food Safety, or those supplying major supermarket chains, are expected to perform CIP (Clean-In-Place) or SIP (Steam-In-Place) cycles at least once per shift. Temperatures during CIP cycles can reach 85°C with caustic soda or acid detergent solutions, and the hydraulic forces from pressure-washing jets can physically displace inadequately specified chain components. Standard carbon steel chains oxidise rapidly under these conditions, producing rust contamination that is unacceptable in food-grade environments. Lubricants are washed away, accelerating metal-to-metal wear, and corrosion pitting creates stress concentrations that invite fatigue cracking during high-cycle operation.
Beyond corrosion, filling lines penalise mechanical imprecision severely. A gear chain with even minor pitch elongation — caused by pin and bush wear — introduces angular velocity variation at the carousel that manifests as foam overflow in beer and carbonated drink filling, or under-fill errors on high-speed volumetric fillers. This is why the specification of gear chains for filling line applications is a precise engineering decision, not a commodity procurement exercise.
Material Selection and Construction Principles
The most widely used material for gear chains in beverage filling line applications is austenitic stainless steel — specifically AISI 316L (EN 1.4404). The 316L designation indicates a low-carbon formulation that resists sensitisation (grain-boundary chromium depletion) during welding or exposure to cyclic thermal stress, as occurs during repeated CIP cycles. The addition of molybdenum in 316L provides significantly higher resistance to chloride-induced pitting corrosion compared with standard AISI 304 — an important distinction given that many CIP cleaning compounds contain chlorine-based biocides or hypochlorite sanitisers.
High-performance gear chains for filling line use are manufactured with solid-roller construction, where the outer plate, inner plate, pin, bush, and roller are all produced from the same 316L grade. Some suppliers cut costs by fitting a stainless outer plate over a carbon steel pin — giving the visual appearance of a stainless chain while allowing the pin to corrode internally, causing premature seizure of the bush and roller assembly. Reputable gear chain suppliers will provide material certification (EN 10204 3.1 certificates) confirming the grade of all load-bearing components, and this documentation should be requested as a standard procurement condition on food-grade applications.
For lines running at exceptionally high speeds or where the engineering team prefers to eliminate lubrication entirely — which is sometimes mandatory in open-air filling zones — engineering plastic chains offer a compelling alternative. These gear chains use acetal (POM) or nylon (PA66) link bodies with stainless steel pins and can operate dry for extended periods. Their lower mass and inherent surface lubricity make them attractive for lightweight conveyor applications within the filling zone, though they sacrifice the high-temperature load capacity of all-metal chains.
Chain pitch — the centre-to-centre distance between consecutive pins — determines the sprocket geometry and the chain’s speed/load characteristics. ISO-standard pitches (6.35 mm, 9.525 mm, 12.7 mm, 15.875 mm, 19.05 mm) are used throughout the filling machinery sector in the UK, ensuring interchangeability with sprockets sourced from established drive system suppliers. Duplex and triplex chain configurations are specified where higher torque is required within an existing centre distance, as is common on main carousel drives of high-output filling machines.
Technical Performance Reference: Gear Chains for Beverage Filling Applications
What Sets Our Gear Chains Apart in Beverage Manufacturing
Zero-Contamination All-316L Stainless Construction
Every gear chain in our beverage-grade range is manufactured entirely from AISI 316L stainless steel — plates, pins, bushes, and rollers alike. There are no internal carbon steel components, no chrome-plated pins, and no zinc-finished hardware that could contaminate product zones or fail under chlorinated cleaning agents. Each production batch is supplied with EN 10204 3.1 material certificates, and surface finish options include polished (Ra ≤ 0.8 µm) for applications adjacent to open product streams. Our gear chains comply with FDA 21 CFR requirements for food contact applications and are compatible with H1-certified food-grade lubricants where periodic lubrication remains part of the maintenance schedule.
Class A Pitch Precision for Smooth High-Speed Running
At chain speeds above 1.5 m/s, even small deviations in pitch — the centre-to-centre distance between consecutive pin holes — produce chordal action at the sprocket that translates directly into angular velocity ripple at the carousel. Our gear chains are manufactured to ISO 606 tolerance Class A, achieving pitch variation of ±0.05 mm or less across a full chain length. This precision, maintained through CNC-bored pin holes and precision-ground solid pins, is the difference between a filling line that consistently fills cleanly at 60,000 BPH and one that repeatedly trips foam overflow sensors. We also supply matching precision sprockets — CNC-hobbed to DIN 8196 tooth profile tolerances — to ensure that chain quality gains are not lost at the sprocket engagement point.
Extended Service Life and Measurable Cost Savings
A correctly specified stainless gear chain running in a well-designed drive with managed lubrication can achieve service lives of two to three years in continuous beverage filling environments — six to ten times longer than a carbon steel chain in the same conditions. The economic case is straightforward: the premium for 316L stainless over carbon steel adds perhaps 40–60% to unit chain cost, but the elimination of three or four chain change-outs per year — each requiring line shutdown, product waste, cleaning validation, and engineering labour — typically delivers full return on investment within eight months of installation. Several UK customers operating 24/7 filling lines have documented annual maintenance savings exceeding £30,000 per filling line after adopting our gear chains.
Self-Lubricating and Dry-Running Options for Open Filling Zones
Where any lubricant drip or aerosol represents a contamination risk — particularly in open-top bottle filling or aseptic filling environments — we offer sintered bronze bush variants that carry a self-contained lubricant reservoir, replenished at standard maintenance intervals rather than requiring daily re-greasing. Engineering plastic chain options are available for lighter-duty conveyor drives within the filling zone, offering truly dry running with no lubrication requirement whatsoever. Both options retain full CIP and SIP compatibility. This combination of hygiene assurance and reduced maintenance intervention is increasingly specified by UK beverage sites operating to NSF/ANSI 169 or 3-A Sanitary Standards, and is well-suited to the clean-room standards demanded by functional drink and infant nutrition filling operations.
Where Gear Chains Are Deployed on a Beverage Filling Line
▶ Main Carousel Drive — Highest Load Position
The primary application is transmitting drive from the main gearbox to the filling carousel. This is the highest-load chain position on most filling machines. Duplex or triplex 316L gear chains in 12.7 mm or 15.875 mm pitch are the standard specification here, often running with automatic lubrication units to maintain film thickness between CIP events. Pitch consistency is critical in this position, as this chain directly governs the rotational uniformity of the carousel and therefore volumetric fill accuracy across all filling heads simultaneously. Any chain elongation beyond 1% of nominal pitch length should trigger replacement to prevent fill weight drift and foam events.
▶ Infeed and Discharge Star Wheel Drives
Infeed star wheels accept bottles from the conveyor and position them precisely into the filling carousel at line speed. The angular synchronisation between the star wheel and the carousel must be held to within fractions of a millimetre to prevent bottle jamming or tipping during high-speed operation. Gear chains connecting these elements are typically lightweight simplex chains in 6.35 mm or 9.525 mm pitch, but must still meet the same corrosion resistance and precision requirements as the main drive chain. Even minor backlash in this position can cause bottle misalignment, leading to costly misfills and — in pressurised carbonated product lines — explosive bottle failures that require full line evacuation.
▶ Capper, Labeller, and Case Packer Synchronisation
Downstream of the filler, capping and labelling machines must run in phase with the filling carousel output. Gear chains are widely used in synchronisation drives of rotary cappers and self-adhesive labellers, providing a reliable, low-backlash drive connection that is easier to maintain and replace under washdown conditions than toothed belt alternatives. UK label machinery manufacturers — including several based in the West Midlands and East Anglia — regularly specify stainless gear chains in their machine builds precisely because the chain’s all-metal construction tolerates the steam cleaning and UV sterilisation procedures common in brewery and dairy bottling halls.
▶ Bottle Rinsers and Tunnel Pasteurisers — The Harshest Zone
Bottle rinsers and tunnel pasteurisers represent the most chemically and thermally aggressive environments on the entire filling line from a chain durability perspective. Continuous water immersion at elevated temperatures, combined with detergent and sanitiser exposure, destroys standard chains within weeks. Gear chains deployed here are invariably AISI 316L stainless, often with a plastic insert between outer plates to prevent internal crevice corrosion from stagnant moisture, and are specified with a safety factor of at least 7:1 on calculated working load to accommodate the shock loading that occurs during bottle jams and restart transients. Proper chain tensioner design is equally important in pasteuriser applications to prevent thermal expansion from generating excessive catenary sag.
Customer Success Case Study
Northern Brew Co. Ltd. — Harrogate, Yorkshire, England
✓ RESOLVED
| Industry | Craft and Regional Beer Brewing, Yorkshire, United Kingdom |
| Line Output | 85,000 bottles per hour across three filling lines (330 ml and 500 ml formats) |
| Challenge | Carbon steel gear chains on the two main filling carousels were corroding and requiring full replacement every 10–12 weeks following aggressive CIP cycles using sodium hydroxide and citric acid solutions at 80°C. Each chain change-out required 14 hours of line downtime, including re-sterilisation and a 500-litre product purge to clear the fill head manifolds, costing approximately £9,800 per event and producing an annual chain-related maintenance burden of over £47,000 across both lines. |
| Solution | Direct specification of our 12.7 mm duplex 316L stainless gear chains across all three carousel main drives, infeed star wheel drives, and bottle discharge conveyors. The replacement sets were matched to existing sprocket centres without requiring any machine modification. Full ISO 606 Class A certification and EN 10204 3.1 material certificates were provided with each delivery batch. |
| Results | Chain service life extended from 12 weeks to 22 months (first service still ongoing at time of writing). Annual maintenance cost saving of £47,200 per filling hall. Foam overflow incidents on Line 1 and Line 2 reduced by 73% due to improved pitch precision. Full investment payback achieved in 6.3 months. |
“We had written off stainless gear chains as too expensive for years. Looking at the numbers now, the case is overwhelming. We estimate we wasted over £150,000 on avoidable carbon steel chain replacements before finally making the switch.” — Maintenance Manager, Northern Brew Co. Ltd.
What Customers in the Beverage Industry Say
We operate three filling lines for carbonated soft drinks near Birmingham, and our washdown regime is punishing — two full CIP cycles every day with hot caustic. The stainless gear chains have now gone 20 months without replacement on Line 2. That is extraordinary compared with our previous experience. Our OEE figures for that line went up by nearly four percentage points in the first quarter after the switch, largely from the elimination of unplanned chain-related stoppages.
— Engineering Director, Midlands Beverage Manufacturing Ltd., Birmingham, UK
We ordered the duplex stainless gear chains for our 50,000-bottle-per-hour beer filling carousel and the performance exceeded all our expectations. Lead time was fast, documentation was impeccable, and we have had zero chain-related stoppages across an eight-month continuous production run. The pitch tolerance is noticeably tighter than our previous supplier’s specification. Foam overflow on our carbonation filler — previously a significant daily irritation — is now practically non-existent.
— Head of Maintenance Engineering, Rheingold Brauerei GmbH, Düsseldorf, Germany
Our dairy drink processing line in Cork runs at 40,000 units per hour and undergoes SIP sterilisation at 121°C every morning before production. We trialled three different gear chain suppliers over four years before finding this product. The sintered-bush self-lubricating version is exactly what we needed — no oil drip into the open filling zone, full steam sterilisation compatibility, and at 16 months the chains are still showing minimal pitch elongation on our check gauge. Genuinely impressive engineering for a product that looks deceptively simple.
— Production Manager, Celtic Dairy Beverages Ltd., Cork, Ireland
Supplying Beverage and Brewing Manufacturers Across the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom operates one of the most active and technically demanding beverage manufacturing sectors in Europe. Scotland’s brewing corridor from Edinburgh through to Aberdeenshire includes both heritage distillery filling operations and new-generation craft brewing facilities that have adopted high-speed line technologies in recent years. In England, the Midlands — and Burton-on-Trent in particular — remains a global landmark for large-scale beer production, home to some of the world’s highest-throughput filling operations running continuously at 100,000+ bottles per hour. Yorkshire, the North East, and Greater Manchester have seen significant capital investment in craft beverage lines, while the South West hosts a growing concentration of cider, juice, and mineral water filling facilities that are equally demanding in their gear chain specifications.
UK beverage manufacturers operate within a rigorous compliance environment. The Food Standards Agency (FSA) requirements for food-contact materials, the BRC Global Standard for Food Safety Issue 9, and retailer-specific codes of practice from major UK supermarkets mean that the material traceability and hygiene design of every drivetrain component in a filling hall is subject to third-party audit. Our gear chains are supplied with complete documentation packages — CE marking where applicable, EN 10204 3.1 material certificates, and RoHS compliance declarations — to fully support BRC audit submissions and internal HACCP documentation requirements.
We hold UK stock for the most common pitch sizes and configurations used on British filling machinery — including chains compatible with KHS Innopack, Krones Modulfill, Sidel Matrix, and GEA ProComposer filling platforms — enabling next-day delivery for emergency replacements to sites in Manchester, Leeds, Bristol, London, Glasgow, and across Northern Ireland. For planned maintenance programmes, we work with UK maintenance managers to build a scheduled supply arrangement that guarantees chain availability ahead of planned shutdown windows, eliminating the risk of emergency procurement at a premium during a critical production stoppage.
Compatible Drive System Components for Filling Lines
A gear chain is only as reliable as the drive system components it connects. Specifying a premium chain without reviewing the condition of the gearbox output shaft, sprocket bore, and motor-to-gearbox coupling is an incomplete approach that frequently produces disappointing results even from high-grade chain. Our application engineers assess the complete drivetrain when making gear chain recommendations.
⚙ Rigid Couplings — Zero-Backlash Motor-to-Gearbox Connection
Where minimal backlash between the motor shaft and gearbox input is essential for precise angular positioning, rigid couplings provide a zero-clearance solid connection. For filling line applications, sleeve-type and disc-type rigid couplings in AISI 316L stainless steel are available to match the hygiene standards of the chain assembly. Rigid coupling selection must consider shaft misalignment tolerance carefully, as they transmit any angular or parallel offset directly into the bearing loads of the connected equipment.
⚙ Worm Gear Reducers — Compact Torque Multiplication for Conveyors
Compact worm gear reducers are commonly fitted to bottle-handling conveyors, accumulation tables, and cap elevator drives within filling lines. We supply washdown-duty worm reducers with stainless steel or coated aluminium housings and USDA/NSF-approved food-grade lubricants as standard fill. High reduction ratios (20:1 to 100:1) allow direct coupling to a filling conveyor from a standard IEC motor frame without additional intermediate drive stages, simplifying the drivetrain and reducing the number of gear chain spans required.
⚙ Inline Planetary Gearboxes — High-Torque Main Carousel Drives
High-speed filling carousel main drives demand high-torque, compact gear reducers with minimal output shaft runout to preserve chain pitch accuracy. Inline planetary gearboxes with stainless flanged output stages and IP69K ingress protection rating are the preferred choice for this role, combining the torque density needed for 100,000+ BPH carousels with the hygiene design integrity required under the BRC Standard. We supply matched gear chain, sprocket, and planetary gearbox packages for new carousel drive installations, with combined load rating analysis provided as part of the application engineering service.
⚙ Precision Stainless Sprockets — Matched to Our Chain Pitch Tolerances
Matching precision-machined sprockets in AISI 316L stainless are stocked for all ISO-standard chain pitches used in the UK beverage sector. Sprockets are CNC-hobbed to DIN 8196 tooth profile tolerances, with bore machined to H7 tolerance for direct shaft fitting or configured for taper-lock bush mounting as required by the filling machine design. Using our matched sprocket sets alongside our gear chains eliminates the angular play that often develops when a precision chain is engaged with a worn or lower-tolerance sprocket.
Custom Manufacturing and OEM Supply Capabilities
Our manufacturing facility operates a dedicated food and beverage chain production line with full ISO 9001:2015 certification and an in-house metrology laboratory equipped for pitch measurement, tensile load testing, and surface roughness verification. This in-house quality control capability means we can accept custom orders and provide guaranteed performance data rather than relying on statistical batch sampling from a third-party test house. Every custom gear chain production run includes a 100% pitch verification scan and a final tensile proof load test at 25% of rated minimum breaking load.
For filling machine OEMs, we operate a dedicated supply programme that supports the full product development lifecycle. If you are designing, building, or refurbishing filling machinery for the UK or European market, we can produce gear chains to your exact custom specification: non-standard pitch, special K-attachments, extended pins for guide rail systems, plastic inserts in specified RAL colours for visual identification during maintenance, or electropolished surfaces for cleanroom environments. Engineering prototype quantities can be manufactured within 10 working days for design validation; production tooling is typically established within six weeks of approved prototype sign-off.
Beverage processors undertaking major capital programmes — new filling hall construction, line speed upgrades, or platform modernisation — are encouraged to contact our applications team at the earliest engineering stage. Early engagement allows us to review the complete drive system architecture, recommend optimal gear chain pitch and configuration, and supply matched sprockets, rigid couplings, and gearbox interfaces as a complete drivetrain package, providing a single point of accountability for the entire chain transmission system.
Frequently Asked Questions
Conversational, voice-search-optimised questions on gear chains for beverage filling lines — answered by our UK applications engineering team.
What type of gear chains are best suited for high-speed beer and beverage filling lines operating in the UK?
For UK filling lines running under BRC Food Safety Standard requirements and regular CIP washing protocols, AISI 316L all-stainless gear chains in ISO 606 Class A pitch tolerance are the standard recommendation for main carousel and star wheel drives. Where lubrication-free operation is needed in open product zones, sintered-bush self-lubricating 316L chains or food-grade engineering plastic chains with stainless pins are the preferred alternatives. The choice depends on line speed, torque loading, operating temperature, and the CIP chemistry used on your specific site.
How much does it cost to replace gear chains on a beer filling machine, and where can I get a competitive quote from a UK-compatible supplier?
The price of a stainless gear chain replacement set for a typical beer filling carousel varies considerably depending on pitch, configuration (simplex, duplex, triplex), chain length, and material specification — but as a general guide, a duplex 316L stainless chain set for a mid-range carousel typically costs 40–60% more than an equivalent carbon steel chain. The total cost of ownership calculation strongly favours stainless, however, given the six- to ten-fold extension in service life. For a specific price and lead time quote for your filling line, email [email protected] with your current chain pitch, configuration, required length, and machine type.
Which stainless steel grade is recommended for gear chains used on CIP-compatible drink production lines in British food manufacturing?
AISI 316L (EN 1.4404) is the industry-standard grade for CIP-compatible gear chains in UK drink production. The “L” (low-carbon) designation prevents sensitisation during thermal cycling, and the addition of 2–3% molybdenum gives 316L a pitting resistance equivalent number (PRE) above 25, providing significantly better resistance to chloride-induced corrosion than 304 stainless. For applications where the chain is in sustained contact with aggressive chlorine-based sanitisers, duplex stainless grades such as 2205 can be considered for even higher corrosion resistance, though at a substantially higher cost per unit.
How often should gear chains on a carbonated soft drink filling line be inspected and replaced to prevent unplanned downtime?
For 316L stainless gear chains on a carbonated soft drink filling carousel, the recommended inspection interval is every three months using a calibrated chain wear gauge, with replacement triggered when pitch elongation exceeds 1.0% of nominal pitch length (approximately 1.27 mm on a 12.7 mm pitch chain). Most well-maintained stainless chains on CSD lines achieve 18–30 months between replacements. Carbon steel chains in the same environment typically need replacement every 8–12 weeks. Documenting chain elongation measurements over time also gives a reliable predictor of remaining service life, allowing planned replacement to be scheduled during the next convenient production stoppage.
Where can I find a reliable gear chain supplier in the UK for food-grade beverage manufacturing equipment, and what lead times should I expect?
For UK-based beverage manufacturers, we maintain UK stock of the most commonly required food-grade gear chains in standard ISO pitches, enabling next-day delivery to sites across England, Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland for emergency replacement orders. For less common specifications or custom chain lengths, standard lead time from our manufacturing facility is 2–3 weeks for volume orders and 10 working days for engineering prototypes. Contact [email protected] with your chain specification for a confirmed availability and lead time response within 24 hours. All orders to UK addresses are shipped with complete documentation for BRC and FSA audit purposes.
What is the difference between standard roller chains and precision stainless gear chains specifically designed for brewery filling machines?
Standard roller chains and precision gear chains share the same fundamental structure (plates, pins, bushes, rollers) but differ significantly in manufacturing tolerances, material specification, and surface treatment. Standard roller chains are typically manufactured to ISO 606 Class B pitch tolerance (±0.10 mm) in carbon steel with no corrosion protection beyond standard plating. Precision gear chains for brewery applications are manufactured to Class A tolerance (±0.05 mm), use full 316L stainless construction throughout, and often feature polished inner surfaces to prevent product residue accumulation. The tighter pitch tolerance is what enables a brewery filling carousel to maintain consistent fill head positioning at high rotational speed — a performance characteristic that standard roller chains cannot reliably deliver.
When should a UK beverage manufacturer consider upgrading to plastic modular chains or all-stainless gear chains on their bottling line, and what are the key cost factors?
The case for upgrading to food-grade gear chains (either stainless or plastic modular) is compelling any time a UK bottling line is experiencing chain replacements more than twice per year, reporting foam or fill weight deviations linked to drivetrain vibration, failing food safety audits due to chain corrosion, or running in a lubrication-restricted zone. On the cost side, the critical calculation is total annual cost of ownership (chain procurement + planned downtime + unplanned downtime + product waste + audit risk) versus the premium for food-grade specification. In almost all continuous-production UK beverage facilities, this calculation favours the upgrade decisively. Request a formal total-cost-of-ownership analysis from our team at [email protected] — it is provided free of charge as part of our pre-sales application engineering service.
How do precision gear chains help maintain consistent bottle speed and prevent foam overflow on high-output filling lines running at over 60,000 bottles per hour?
At filling speeds above 60,000 BPH, the carousel rotates fast enough for any chordal velocity variation from chain pitch inaccuracy to create measurable angular acceleration at the fill head. Each fill head momentarily accelerates and decelerates as the chain engages successive sprocket teeth, producing a micro-surge of product velocity inside the fill valve that disturbs carbonation equilibrium and creates foam. Precision gear chains minimise this chordal action through tight pitch-to-pitch consistency — reducing angular velocity ripple to a level that the product’s surface tension can absorb without foaming. Field data from UK brewing installations consistently shows a 50–75% reduction in foam-related overfill incidents within the first month of switching from Class B to Class A pitch tolerance gear chains on the carousel main drive.
Ready to Eliminate Chain-Related Downtime on Your Filling Line?
Talk to our application engineers. We respond to all UK enquiries within 24 hours and can provide a full drivetrain specification review at no charge.
edit by gzl