PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2012

PET products 40 PET planet insider Vol. 13 No. 04/12 www.petpla.net Profiler gauges American company Agr, Inc.’s new generation of meas- urement devices, the “T” series laboratory Profiler Gauges (PG9800T and PG9810T), are presented as an alternative to section weight cutting for monitoring material distribution during the production of PET bottles. The T-series gauges are designed for use on the plant floor or in the laboratory. Agr says that measurement can be performed in less than 10s, without destroying the subject bottle. The gauges use the same infrared measurement technology as Agr’s PET- Wall Profiler to scan the sidewall of the bottle and produce a visual representation of wall thickness, material distribution and bottle height. Graphs are superimposed over a graph of a baseline bottle, in order to allow immediate identifica- tion of shifts in distribution. Information can be captured and saved to a database for future reference or exported for use in plant-wide process management systems. PG9800T is intended for use with mono-layer containers. It can enable operators to perform vertical scans in up to eight sectors around the container and horizontal scans at multiple height locations. PG9810T has the same capabilities as the PG9800 but can also identify the presence and/or thickness of barrier materials on multi-layer containers. Both models have an LCD touch-panel operator interface and system display; a new main system processor and operating system; addi- tional USB ports for job backup, data connectivity and printer interface; graphic or numerical display of test data; integrated section average calculations; and auto-learn for easier setup. www.agrintl.com Pressure-sensitive labels CCL Label says that PSL (Pressure Sensitive Labels) promote significantly cleaner labelling operations, as there are no glue delivery lines that need to be warmed up at start-up – shutdown and start-up is immediate – and there is no need for periodic clean up, as required with wet glue lines. The company also asserts that PSLs offer greater flexibil- ity in terms of rapid changes between variants. Downtime for set-ups, start- ups, end of shift clean-ups, removal of misapplied labels, jams and changeo- vers is claimed to be less than with wet glue labels. PSLs do not require con- trolled temperature and humidity and are not greatly affected by variances in storage conditions. PSL maintains that average line efficiency can be increased by approximately 15% and has sustain- ability advantages, compared with wet glue labels. PSLs can be used on PET bottles, as well as glass. www.cclbeverage.com Coding at the speed of light The Solaris e-SolarMark HD is a laser coding device developed developed by German company Bluhm. The system uses water as a cooling medium and for increas- ing the IP protection category. A complex design concept ensures that no condensate can form in the print head. The compact construction system is designed for high speed labelling of materials such as paper, foils, glass, plastic or coated metals. The typeface with the e-Solar- Mark HD features particular impact and is easily legible. One typical application area is the lettering on bottle labels or PET bottles. Depending on the application, belt speeds of up to 300m per minute or 1,500 product coding operations per minute are possible. The e-SolarMark HD can also be fitted with two marking devices to enable it to handle (e.g.) front and rear labels. www.bluhmsysteme.com Lanco crystallizers for smaller throughputs German manufac- turer has launched a new range of stain- less steel crystallizers, intended for labora- tory applications and smaller throughputs for manufacturers and processors of PET and PET additives. The company says that the machines offer lower- price alternatives to large, higher-end solutions intended for production of tons per hour. The first exam- ples are already in commercial use. Fast cleaning of the crystal- liser hopper is facili- tated by a hydraulic system that raises the cover carrying the gear motor and the agitator. Crystal- lising tank covers are equipped with vision panels and flange connections, which enable Lanco loaders to bring in amorphous PET for continuous operation. Process fan speed is controlled by converters; the process air heating chamber is directly connected to the crystallising tank and controlled by SSRs, as well as temperature limiters and air stream surveillance. The units are equipped with touch screen controllers. Long-distance remote control and sup- port is available via Ethernet connection and VPN router, if required. www.lanco.de