PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2010

PREFORM PRODUCTION 25 PET planet insider Vol. 11 No. 09/10 www.petpla.net The PIC spray system The PIC media itself complies with US FDA (section 21CFR175.300) regulations. It is applied by Lubrimat PIC-L60, a spray system that was developed especially for this applica- tion. Exact-metering piston pumps push PIC fluid to the nozzle tip, where it is sprayed onto the preforms. The stand- ard version of the system, for preforms up to approximately 150mm height, has four nozzles. A six-nozzle version is available for larger preforms or very complex bottle designs. The PIC’s quick coupling connection and plain interior design make it easy to clean (fig.7). Steidle says that its PIC systems are already in use with a number of large companies across the world, in bottled water, beer, soft drinks, juices and juice-mix drinks bottling plants. Applications include several aseptic systems, as the anti-friction film does not have any negative effects on wet- ting agents or aseptic characteristics. www.steidle-pic.com www.pet-coating.com Integrated precoating Instead of coating the preforms during manufacture, PIC coats them at the bottling plant, before the preform goes into the stretch blow-moulding machine. Steidle says that this gives operators of filling systems the oppor- tunity to apply the anti-friction coating more flexibly, more precisely, more effectively and in a more cost-effective manner. The Steidle PIC spray system is mounted at the entrance of the blow moulding machine (figs 5and 6) and integrated into the machine control. This allows the coating to be applied automatically onto the preform, and as required. The spray can be dispensed in extremely low quantities (a few ml per hour) so that no moisture remains on the bottles, which could eventu- ally impair labelling. Some of Steidle’s customers have reported that PIC also improves handling of PET at other parts of the filling line, such as the packing station separator and during shrink-sleeve labelling. Fig. 6: ...and nozzle mounting. Fig. 7: The PIC Process Integrated Coating device Fig. 5: Variation of spray system...