PETpla.net Insider 11 / 2016

PET products 58 PET planet Insider Vol. 17 No. 11/16 www.petpla.net Two-container snap-fit PET package The Clasper blow moulded bottle technology is being made available to brand owners who want to market a product in a package with two separate containers. It provides a packaging solution for boundary-pushing food, beverage, pharmaceutical, nutraceutical, industrial and household chemical products. The Clasper concept enables two different products to be consumed in sequence or mixed together and then consumed. The first commercialisation of this new technology was the recent introduction of Yumix portable, shelf-stable line of cocktails (see PETplanet 10/2016). The Clasper technology combines two PET containers, with the bottom container snapping into the base of the larger top bottle. The Clasper package concept is the brainchild of Yumix founder Alex Garner and was engi- neered by Plastic Technologies, Inc. (PTI). The challenge for PTI was to find the right geometry and bottle weight to keep the dimensions within the appropriate tolerances so that the snap fit was consistently achieved, but yet have the containers be easily separable by the consumer. “With brand owners continuing to develop new products and create new sub-categories, we wanted to create a disrup- tive package type that pushes traditional boundaries. It gives companies a way to market companion products - such as two liquids or a liquid and a powder - that, for whatever reason, cannot be premixed,” explained Ron Puvak, director of market- ing and new business development, Plastic Technologies, Inc. Although the Clasper package was original designed for a hot-fill application, modifications can be made to accommodate other process types. The containers can also be decorated via a shrink sleeve which provides added visual appeal and usage instructions. www.plastictechnologies.com Official launch of the industry’s first single operation Top Load & Volume Gauge Torus Measurement Systems have announced the launch of the B304 Top Load & Volume Gauge. The system showcases a single operation Top Load & Volume Test to the plas- tic bottle market. Once the bottle is loaded by the operator all functions can be carried out in sequence without the need for opera- tor interference to move the bottle between tests. The gauge will allow bottle manufacturers and fillers the ability to verify mould designs, dimensions and geometry, providing the customer with a solution to carry out precise volumetric measurement in accordance with export laws and safeguarding bottle strength during transport for stacking and palletising. The key benefit of the B304 Top Load & Volume Gauge is the ability to perform two tests in one system. By combining the two tests (Top Load and Volume), it negates the need for operator intervention thus eradicating laborious manual inspec- tion and saving time. Carrying out time-consuming manual volume tests often results in inaccuracies. The average time to perform a manual volume test is approximately 8-10m per bottle with the quality of results being susceptible to human error. The Top Load results are traceable to UKAS standards and the system adheres to ASTM D2659 standard test method for Column Crush proper- ties of blown thermoplastic containers. The user selects the part and test mode, loads the bottle into a centralised location and waits for the results. Standard selectable measurement features of the gauge are: brim-full volume, fill height volume, dry top load force, wet top load force (filled bottle), and empty bottle weight and bottle deflection point. An example of the B304 volume test would be, recording the empty bottle weight, filling the bottle to brim-full or fill height set point, measuring the weight of the filled bottle and automatically calculating the volume using the weight and temperature data. B304 Top Load & Volume Gauges are currently installed in large industry bottle manufacturers. Due to the enclosed self-contained cabinet the system is suitable for shop-floor or laboratory environments and is commonly used in research & development or production. Torus gauges are installed around the world and are supported by a global dedicated service team. www.torus-group.com