PETpla.net Insider 04 / 2017

BOTTLE MAKING 19 PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 04/17 www.petpla.net Blown handle application for different sizes of PET containers PET to push away the competitors Following a strategy to expand PET into high technical demanding market and niche products, during 2016 the companies have dedicated significant resources to expand PET containers in the areas of stackable and medium- large size handed bottles. Based on the joint experience to develop stack- able containers and handed bottles with the handle applied along the verti- cal parting line of the blow cavity, the engineers have pushed PET material and process boundaries enabling PET to replace other substrates such as metal or HDPE. The HDPE jerry can is relatively standardised with horizontal handle feature as well as stackability from medium to large size. Dethapak, who owns the intellectual property rights, in collaboration with IPC, has designed and developed the new bottle concept combining the style and the targeted performance and sampled a 10l con- tainer thanks to the Lanfranchi unit cavity blow moulder which has been updated with the handle implementa- tion module. IPC, Lanfranchi and Dethapack have successfully converted these containers into PET and have pro- duced bottles with a horizontal incor- porated handle that can stack one up the other 3-4 levels depending on the volume of the container. The handle application is pro- duced while blowing. This is a remark- able development in this project because the handle was horizontally applied into the blowing cavity just before the blow mould closing so that PET encapsulates the handle while forming the container. In other more common applications, the handle is applied vertically along the blow cavity parting line with the anchoring points that are almost parallel to the preform. This module opens and closes synchronised with the blow mould cycle and it has been designed as a separate entity of the blow mould activated by pneumatic cylinder and a spring for the closing action. The container was tested in Lan- franchi’s laboratory and specific tests have been developed to verify the specification and legal require- ments even for the transportation of dangerous products according to the EU instructions. The newly designed preform as well as the container and the blow mould features are patent pending. To complete the scenario, Lan- franchi gives a high flexible way to produce containers with a wide range of handle application. For example Lanfranchi’s linear blow moulder can produce round bottles, square bottles or oval bottles with a handle applied vertically along the parting line of the blow mould. The evolution of systems completes the range of applications with a container handed horizontally. www.lanfranchi.it IPC and Lanfranchi have just celebrated their first anniversary of collaboration, as pioneers of new developments in the PET packaging sector. In close cooperation with Dethapak, they have launched a new packaging that fully replaces the metal or HDPE jerry can and its main features. The main features of the container are the robust handle encapsulation and the stackability. The new container is handed horizon- tally in the upper part of the container and a special module of the blow mould has been designed to reach this target.