PETpla.net Insider 03 / 2013

PET products 34 PET planet insider Vol. 14 No. 03/13 www.petpla.net Flexible sleeves and tamper-evident flip-tops PDC Europe, based in Montdidier, France, specialises in the design and manufacture of sleeving and closure machines, and has recently been making the case for flexible sleeving and the adoption of tamper-evident flip- tops. Its president, Derek Vandevoorde, says that stretch sleeves save costs by using less material, eliminate the need for shrink tunnels and, because they adapt to every curve and variation of the container they wrap around, offer the flexibility to bundle different containers within the same package. Those containers can hold different products entirely, or bonus amounts, or offer consumers the chance to try something new from the same supplier. They can hold two to four packages in the same sleeve, with the addition of a spacer or plastic eyelet to hold them in place. Handles can also be added, for convenience. The recent introduction to the cosmetic segment of tottles, squeezable containers that stand on their caps, further extends the market for flip-top closure systems. Vandevoorde says that integrating PDC’s tamper-evident sleeve applicators into flip-top cap production lines can save costs and reduce carbon footprint by eliminating the need for the cardboard boxes or cellophane packag- ing previously used to protect the products. The secured sleeve guarantees the product’s integrity. PDC asserts that it can provide cap manufacturers with machines that are easy to operate, offer fast changeover and are com- pact. They are designed to automatically sleeve between 20 and 120 caps per minute, feature camera inspection for container closure and imprint, a sorting area, a keyed run/jog switch and precise container handling. www.pdceurope.com Steady-pallet palletiser Sipa’s latest design of palletising units, the Genius PTF V, with its twin-platform configuration, can palletise at speeds of up to 420 layers/h, making it suitable for medium-speed an high-speed lines. Conceived using the same design philoso- phy behind as the original Genius PTF palletising sytems introduced in 2011, the Genius PTF V integrates the compa- ny’s Fastlayer robotic layer preparation units, with their active pack orientation and arrangement capabilities. With its twin-platform design, the Genius PTF V is carry- ing out two separate operations simultaneously rather than sequentially, and such cutting out any waiting time. While the first platform is picking up and compacting a just-prepared layer of packs from the Fastlayer unit, the second platform is busy depositing the previous layer on the pallet, and then returning to receive the new layer. The Genius PTF V uses a halving platform/head suitable for pallet layers made up of shrink-wrap packs, cartons and plastic crates. The platform is in two halves that move apart once it is in position over the pallet, allowing the new layer to drop into position. It accepts pallets up to 1,200 x 1,200mm. www.sipa.it H E A L T H & B E A U T Y C A R E P A C K A G I N G U