PETpla.net Insider 07+08 / 2010

BOTTLING / FILLING 25 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 07+08/10 www.petpla.net Redesigned stretch blow moulder/filler monoblock Since its launch, KHS’ InnoPET BloFill stretch blow moulder/filler monoblock system has been adopted by, among others, Coca-Cola China and Swire Coca-Cola. It has also achieved sales in Central and South America. Among the advantages claimed by KHS for the InnoPET BloFill system are cost savings by elimination of an air conveyor; a reduced footprint without an air conveyor; and gentler PET bottle handling. A redesigned InnoPET BloFill stretch blow moulder/filler monoblock has recently been launched by KHS. It is capable of processing a wide range of PET bottle sizes and shapes, from 120ml to 3l. The company says that the monoblock setup is able to process up to 72,000 PET bottles per hour, with typical efficiency levels exceeding 96%. Directly downstream of the stretch blow moulding process, removal of bottles from the blow station and adjustment of the clearance between finished PET bottles required by the configuration of the filling system is now handled by just one modular transfer wheel. All second monoblock modules feature the same airlock design, regardless of size and application. If carbonated beverages are being filled, the PET bottles are conveyed through a modular cooling segment before being passed on to the filling system. KHS says that the cooling process is particularly efficient and economi- cal as its water requirement has been reduced to a minimum. The system uses up to nine nozzles, which con- stantly spray a mixture of water and air onto the bottle bases and cover them with fine drops of mist. Each nozzle sprays just one liter of water an hour. Monobloc features InnoPET Blomax Series IV machines are equipped with a new heating technology that cuts the time required to heat preforms by almost half, compared with the InnoPET Blomax Series III system. The new heater segment requires just half as much space as the previous heater, which also holds only half the number of the preforms of its predecessor model. That means only half the amount of preforms need to be chan- neled out if an emergency stop is triggered within the monoblock, com- pared with the previous setup. This further means that the buffer area between the monoblock and down- stream labeler is also minimized.. KHS says that the new monoblock has a shorter start-up time: 15s, com- pared with the predecessor system’s two minutes. This increases system availability. The stretching processes in the blow stations are controlled by servo-motors. Stretch speed is now independent of the machine speed, which facilitates helps facilitate differ- ent bottle sizes to the filler. www.khs.com The new KHS InnoPET BloFill stretch blow moulder/filler monoblock is capa- ble of processing a wide range of PET bottle sizes and shapes, with bottles holding anything from 120ml to 3l. The monoblock setup is able to handle up to 72,000 PET bottles per hour.