Extended slider mould concept
Responding to tethered caps requirements
The Austrian mould maker and closure specialist z-moulds is known for its unique slider technology used for all beverage closures with tamper evidence bands. The so-called z-slides system is patented and used by many closure producers around the world. To meet tethered caps requirements, the proven concept has been re-engineered and extended.
One of the early pioneers in using the z-slides concept was Coca Cola’s operation in Eastern Creek, Australia. Since last year the bottler has been part of CCEP, the Coca Cola European Partners, the biggest bottling company for Coca Cola. David Chalmers, Head of Packaging Services at CCEP Australia has been leading the projects for the past ten years and says: “Fast cycle times, exceptional performance, low maintenance and minimal wear parts, great technical support and part design capabilities made z-moulds a perfect fit and partner.” Since 2012 the company produced billions of closures with the z-slides system and proved that the concept is robust and reduces significantly the necessity for unexpected downtime.
With the patented z-slides technology the Austrian mould maker responded, more than 10 years ago, to a common wear problem with lateral slider moulds in the closure industry. Due to rapid cycles and therefore multiple million shots per year, the conventional slider moulds have issues with ongoing wear. The parting line between the cavities is flat and does not need any additional centring and consequently the wear was reduced to an absolute minimum. (Fig.1)
Meanwhile the Australian Coca-Cola bottler runs 11 closure systems from the Austrian mould specialists and proofed this as a success story. In addition to the lowered re-investment for maintenance and also the reduction of downtime, output was increased as well as the overall efficiency of the system.
For example, US based water bottling company Premium Waters Inc. successfully ran the 96-cavity moulds more than 35 million shots, in less than 3 years, producing more than 3 billion closures from each of their systems.
Adjusted to tethered caps requirements
Not only in Europe, where the new Single Use Plastics Directive (EU) 2019/904 of the European Parliament will apply from 2024 on, but also in many other countries around the globe customers are tending to look for more environmentally-friendly solutions.
Michael Fink, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing says: “To respond to today’s market requirements, the proven concept was re-engineered and enhanced by an extended movement. This allows us to have complete closure side walls within the slider geometry. Combined with the ability in de-moulding into four directions, this technology is a perfect fit for the new generation of beverage caps. Specially tethered caps require these enlarged slider heights and de-moulding possibilities.”
With this technical advance the Austrian mould and closure specialist can remain with the well-proven concept and the associated benefits and at the same time open a new possibility of de-moulding all types of tethered closure designs. One of the first customers using this enhancement is design partner Universal Closures Ltd. from the UK, who designed a screw-on and flip-off tethered solution to be used with standard 29/25 mm 3-start bottle necks. (Fig.2) The new z-slides extended can fit closure wall’s up to 15 mm, so all new bottle necks are covered.
