Plastics News Show Daily - April 4, 2012 - (Page 34)

34 PLASTICS NEWS, April 4, 2012 Blofill blows, fills, caps bottles in-line By Jessica Holbrook PLASTICS NEWS STAFF With rising energy and material prices, many companies are looking for ways to cut costs without sacrificing quality. KHS Corpoplast GmbH recently introduced its blocked blow molding system — a combination blower, filler and capper unit that can be used in PET applications. The InnoPet Blofill blocked system is designed to increase efficiency and cut costs, said Bjöern von Lengerke, general sales manager for KHS, during a Feb. 7 presentation at The Packaging Conference. “You can blow your own package, and you can fill it right away in-line. By doing so, you can reduce the packaging costs and increase the advantages on the logistics side,” he said at the Las Vegas conference. The system connects the blower directly to the filler and capper unit, cutting out the air conveyer, bottle rinser and other components. Instead, a multifunctional star wheel conveys the bottles from blower to filler by way of a transfer block. The block separates the dry blow molder from the wet filler and includes an air lock with constant airflow. “You make sure the wet side, the humid side from the filling side, isn’t entering the stretch blow molder, because the stretch blow molder doesn’t like that,” von Lengerke said. The base system can be used for water or other noncarbonated soft drinks and can make up to 72,000 bottles per hour. With some modification, the system also can be used for carbonated beverage applications and hot-fill applications at 185°190° F. A cooling system — a star wheel equipped with a set number of spray nozzles — can cool bottles’ bases about 131°-167° F. This eliminates the risk of stress fracturing, which is a common deterrent to using blocked systems, von Lengerke said. “There are less and less arguments against blocked systems like this,” he said. The cooling system can be modified based on production needs, is efficient and has low water consumption, he added. The Blofill blocked system can make several bottle types at maximum speed, giving users a flexibility that was not available with previous blocked models, von Lengerke said. New heating technology also cuts down on startup time and reduces preform losses. Temperature restrictions can make the system difficult for some hot-fill applications in the U.S., but with adjustments can be used for a variety of juices, teas ‘There are less and less arguments against blocked systems like this.’ Bjöern von Lengerke KHS Corpoplast GmbH and other drinks, von Lengerke said. Because blocked systems like the Blofill eliminate the traditional air conveyer, they have several advantages over standard systems, he said. The machine can handle delicate lightweight preforms, even in hot-fill applications. The design saves space and uses less energy, an important consideration in plants in Europe and Asia, and companies can save on human resources costs because the system requires only one operator, he said. The blocked blower and filler unit might be less efficient than separate blowers and fillers, but standard lines are limited by their least efficient component — often the air conveyer, von Lengerke said. In these cases, blocked systems can be more efficient than traditional ones. Zwick grows with new HQ PLASTICS NEW REPORT ORLANDO, FLA. — Zwick USA (Booth 51046) recently moved a half-mile to a new headquarters that is 75 percent larger than its previous site. The company said the move has increased its ability to provide sales and support to the North American material and component testing marketplace. Zwick is a subsidiary of Zwick/ Roell AG of Ulm, Germany. The firm moved from 4,000 square feet of space into a 7,000square-foot facility and has added more training room and a product demonstration laboratory, Managing Director Bill Becker said. It also has added space for rebuilding machinery. Zwick has been in the U.S. since 1998 and has grown steadily. Becker said it now has 20 employees, up from 14 a year and half ago. “Zwick is one of the largest manufacturers of material testing equipment in the world,” he said. The company offers equipment for testing many materials, but plastics is one of its biggest markets. It tests characteristics such as impact and mold flow. Among its newest products is a laser extensometer, a noncontact method of measuring strain on a specimen. He said it is able to give more accurate readings, in that it does not come into contact with the product. http://www.novatec.com/NWDC

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