PETpla.net Insider 01+02 / 2016

BOTTLE MAKING 17 PET planet insider Vol. 17 No. 01+02/16 www.petpla.net Serac Blow Linear (SBL) blowing units Having acquired state of the art skills in PET blow-moulding over the past few years, Serac started designing its stretch blow-moulding units. By concentrating on controlling the heating process of preforms and maximising time allocated to heating and blowing, Serac has been able to stretch lightweight preforms up to their limits with a homogeneous bottle thickness and without neck deforma- tion. Ultimate control of the blowing process of SBL units has been achieved by integrating advanced technologies and proven, long-lasting devices. These include the new generation of NS-IRS heating boxes from Olicorp, Geneva, Switzerland, Seitz technology Wetzikon, Switzerland based solenoid pre-blowing and blowing valves and automation con- trol from B&R, Eggelsberg, Austria. For example, Serac’s SBL 50g yogurt portion packages are presented in a fruit-shaped flask, blown from a PET preform of 2.3g and with nearly half of the mass con- centrated in the neck. The fruit-shaped flask requires an expansion rate of 16 (four times in both length and width), which is remarkable in this industry. A preferential heating option is available to further enhance the versatility of the SBL blowing units. In contrast to standard processes, heat is not evenly distributed on the preform but is concentrated on two sides. Preferential heating is used to produce oval bottles (width/length ratio equal or higher than two), as well as square and complex-shaped containers. The main applications of this specific process are to be found in markets such as oils and sauces, dishwashing and surface care products, and hair and skin care products. Serac’s linear blowing units produce up to 12,000 1l bottles per hour, with an efficiency rate up to 98%. Combox: a single block blow- fill-cap concept Under the name Combox, Serac is offering a single block blow-fill-cap element for a high precision blowing unit, with a rotary weight filler for low to medium outputs. The net weight filling technology, a specialty of the group for over 45 years, offers benefits in filling accuracy and reliability, Clean In Place (CIP) facilities and maintenance. Serac’s patented transfer system ensures that preforms and bottles are always posi- tively transferred and move along the process without ever touching each other. This avoids jams, bottle drops and scratches. The transfer system converts the sequential motion of the linear blower into a continuous motion adapted to the rotary filler. It is associated with a special filling mode to ensure quick adjustment of the filler-capper to the blowing unit output. At the end of each production batch, both machines communicate with each other to ensure all remaining preforms in the blowing unit are used and properly filled and capped. Combox units help to cut downtime to a minimum, thanks to quick mould changeovers that will take a single operator 10 minutes to perform, as well as simplified mainte- nance operations and the elimination of production starts and stops often associ- ated with accumulation systems. www.serac-group.com Preform color inspec t ion r ight af ter produc t ion. ColorWatcher Integrated. Ins tal l ed in your injec t ion molding machine. W W W . I N T R A V I S . C O M V I S I T U S A T B O O T H E 1 F 0 5