PETpla.net Insider 11 / 2013

PREFORM PRODUCTION 19 PET planet insider Vol. 14 No. 11/13 www.petpla.net XTREME shown at Drinktec  Preform: 0.5l  Preform weight: 8.7g  Mould cavities: 72  Capacity: 50,000 preforms/h cerned, a bottle weighing 6g is also feasible. In addition to the design freedom in relation to preforms, Enrico Gribaudo also points out that quality charac- teristics to be obtained through use of the injection compression mould- ing process must not be ignored. The comparatively low shear loads on the melt during the filling process result in less stress in the preform and low AA contents. On display at Drinktech is a rotary machine with 72 forming sta- tions arranged on its carousel. Each forming station has its own injec- tion plunger that is supplied centrally with PET material via a continuous operation extruder. The process of filling and dispensing is controlled by injection plungers and the mate- rial is fed into an open mould cavity which is closed shortly before the end of the filling process. The dispens- ing function can be set at each mould cavity and the mould cavities are filled one by one. The opening and closing movement of the moulding stations is controlled mechanically via cam sys- tems, in a similar way to stretch blow moulding machines. According to Enrico Gribaudo, in this way it is possible to carry out a preform changeover (replacement of mould cavities) in the space of 45min. A star wheel picks up the preforms from the open moulding cavities and transfers the preforms into a cooling station for the final cooling process. The individual adjustment option for dispensing means that a variety of preforms can be manufactured on a single machine. A question arose: Will the XTREME preform system be in competition with the company’s own XFORM range? Enrico Gribaudo responded as follows: “No, having the two types of preform systems in our range means we can offer a tailored solution appropriate to our customers’ needs. Obviously, this will put increased demands on our sales people, but that is a challenge we are happy to accept.” What is the next stage? An initial XTREME test machine is to be installed at the premises of a customer in Europe, preforms for still water. And future developments? The next size up, a machine with 96 moulding stations, is presently on the drawing board. www.sipa.it Your Cap Your Signature CapWatcher III – Third Generation of Closure-Inspection www.intravis.com