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ISSUE 04-05 / 2001 |
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PRODUCTS
145
Flexpet compressor stations
The German compressor manufacturer
Boge of Bielefeld has developed a range of compressor installations for PET
bottle blowers, delivering from 93 m3/h to 1076 m3/h. The low pressure stage,
up to 11 bars, is achieved using an appropriate screw compressor with automatic
output control allowing it to operate economically at between 50 and 100 percent
of its capacity. However, if the bottle blowing plant already has a low pressure
compressed air network that can deliver sufficient volume for bottle blowing
then the Flexpet station can be tapped directly into that, without the need
for a screw compressor stage. Up to four booster compressors bring the low
pressure air up to 40 bars for bottle blowing. A separate receiver holds high
pressure air which is cleaned and filtered to ensure total hygiene. The boosters,
dryers, filter and receivers are all mounted on a heavy duty chassis with
the operator control panel, which amongst other things automatically adjusts
the output of the booster compressors follow the demand for 40 bar air.
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NEW FEATURES FOR SIPA BLOW MOULDERS |
The Italian company Sipa
of Vittorio Veneto has recently announced a number of new features incorporated
into their range of rotary blow-moulding machines. The preform feed system
has the benefit of a new worm feed screw that is said to eliminate preform
jamming, and a newly designed, horizontally and vertically rotating conveyor
chain that carries the preforms past a video inspection system to the conditioning
ovens. The modular ovens can be increased or reduced in size depending on
the number of bottle blowing cavities on the model selected.
A major patented innovation is the adjustable guide system that allows the
preform temperature equilibration time to be regulated to suit the thickness
of the preform and thus maintains a steady production rate. There have also
been some modifications to the handling and clamping of preforms in the vertical-opening
mould.
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TOP LOAD TESTER FOR BOTTLES |
Even the most well-designed
packages have to compromise between conflicting demands. The single trip PET
bottle is a good example. It has to be rigid enough to withstand product lifecycle
requirements yet contain as little primary source material as possible. PET
bottles must be able to sustain significant axial top-load, both during capping
and during stacking at various stages in the distribution cycle. Standards
such as ASTM D2659 and DIN 55440-1:99 define top load testing procedures which
help in the lightweighting of bottles. The instrument manufacturers Mecmesin,
headquartered in Horsham, UK, have configured their proven force measurement
equipment to provide a cost-effective and easy to use system for just this
application. The Top-Load Tester has the load capacity and speed range to
meet the relevant standards. Data concerning the load required to initiate
container collapse can either be printed out or downloaded to a PC.
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Pakex 2001 |
Pakex 2001 took place in Birmingham, UK, from April 2nd to 6th. Although it
is one of Europe’s leading packaging exhibitions there was relatively little
directly addressing the PET beverage bottling sector. There were 1442 exhibitors
of packaging materials, components and machinery. Some interesting new PET
products were to be seen on the stand of Pet Power (NL), including standard
bottles and jars for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics with traditional threaded
aluminium caps. The company was also featuring their range of clinch-neck
PET bottles for veterinary products. These are moulded fully automatically
in a class 10,000 clean room, brick packed in up to three layers of foil and
gamma irradiated. This is claimed to be the manufacturing facility of its
kind for PET. Sprayplast (Italy) are manufacturers of trigger sprayers that
are traditionally produced to fit 28/400 or 28/410 neck sizes. With many markets
wanting to use standard PET preforms to make inexpensive bottles for domestic
cleaners etc Sprayplast has now developed a trigger spray suitable for a PCO
neck finish. Acti Pack (France), a company exclusively involved in the production
of PET containers, were showing their extensive range for foodstuffs and cosmetics.
PET Technologies (UK/USA) had on display beer bottles which they supply in
the USA and Europe for brands such as Fosters, Budweiser, Miller, Coors, 33
Export, Dreher, and for Strongbow cider in New Zealand. In the machinery halls
Sidel (France) were operating an SBO Series 2 stretch blow moulding machine
with a number of new features. SMI (Italy) were highlighting their new generation
of SBM machines, although they did not have one on the stand, choosing to
show their collator/film wrapper for PET beverage bottles. A highlight of
the Procomac (Italy) stand was the new “Synchro” machine, developed in close
collaboration with Sipa. This is effectively a “blocked” SBM machine/filler/capper.
Preforms are fed in at one end – filled, capped bottles emerge from the other
end. The aim is to minimise the machinery footprint and make bottle blowing
accessible to small companies.
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Compact shredders |
Herbold of Meckensberg, Germany, now offer the C range of their SML cutter-mills
for shredding PET bottles, containers and preforms. These units are sound-insulated
for use right where they are needed in the production plant, and are available
in 6 output sizes from 20 to 2000 kg/h. They are compact and easy to access
for cleaning and maintenance. The double diagonal cut and adjustable knives
make for efficient performance with lower energy consumption.
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SEAL FREE BUNDLER |
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The FC-BL bundler from Condi Film of Rollot Farnce packages bottles in shrink-wrapped
bundles without trays or cards. The filled bottles are fed by conveyor to
the automatic machine where they are assembled into batches of the required
quantity. They are then wrapped with foil, pre-cut from the roll as they pass
through the machine. In the tunnel the foil is tightly shrunk around the bundle
and self-seals. The bundles are cooled during their passage along the outfeed
conveyor. The machine operates at between 20 and 50 cycles per minute, depending
on the size of the bundle, and can be equipped for single or double track
operation. Options include the facility for including leaflets in the shrink-wrapped
bundle, and printed foil.
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