PETpla.net Insider 09 / 2017

CAPS & CLOSURES 50 PET planet Insider Vol. 18 No. 09/17 www.petpla.net Complex sports cap: the closure’s inte- rior may contain powder, fluid or pills. Assembly machine innovation brings new opportunities Complex closures One manufacturer in this market is the assembly-machine builder Con- texo, who has been building turnkey- ready machines for beverage closures for 15 years. The company became well known for its solutions in the medical-devices sector. Contexo has successfully transferred this expertise to the beverages market. Today, the family-run firm is one of the leading providers of machines for complex beverage closures. The portfolio of Contexo includes machines for complex-closure designs (e.g., non-rotationally symmetrical), closures with additives (e.g., powders or fluids integrated into the cap), and for special seals for highly carbonated beverages. The assembly steps for a complex closure with a chamber for a powder are presented below. Spout: the heart of the closure The spout is important to the user primarily for its haptic qualities. It is the part of the bottle users touch with their mouth. With complex closures, it is especially the internal structure that is important. It can contain powder, fluid or pills. Production: First the parts have to be fed in. This is a particularly gentle procedure that uses vibration- feeding devices to prevent pearl- escence and damage to the seal elements. Contexo developed its own feeding technology that guarantees gentle handling of the parts even at high speeds. If the closure type is not rotationally symmetrical, the part must also be correctly oriented. A dosing unit integrated into the assembly machine fills the chamber. Powders and fluids are dosed in the ml range. Tabs and pills are also fre- quently used. Finally, a foil seal is used to close the chamber. The Contexo assembly machine stamps the foil inline imme- diately prior to assembly. This saves time, minimises production area and avoids contamination. The chamber is then closed and sealed with the foil. To guarantee the seal’s tight- ness, inline vision inspection is used to check around half a dozen criteria. Only 100% perfect parts may continue to the next stages of the production process. The checked parts are then turned around prior to the assembly process so that they can later be cor- rectly mounted to the body. Body: the base of the closure The body’s main role is to con- nect bottleneck and spout. In the case of the present closure with powder chamber, the body contains cutting teeth. By turning the spout, the cutting teeth open the foil seal and empty the chamber’s contents. Increasingly complex closures dominate the beverages market in the middle- and high-price ranges: innovative machine designs can today manufacture closures that were not profitable just a few years ago. The following overview shows you the typical assembly steps involved in the pro- duction of a complex sports cap. Active ingredients: a twisting action perforates the lower foil and releases the ingredients. Production: First, the bodies are fed in and oriented according to their visual features. Visual-inspection sys- tems check the quality of the cutting teeth. This ensures that the foil seal is cleanly opened. Here too, Contexo uses inline vision inspection. Now comes the “wedding”. The filled spout is united with the body – the two parts are mounted together. Finally, the TE band is folded and activated. Overcap: the closure’s protective jacket The closure’s cap mainly performs a protective role: it guarantees that the beverage is uncontaminated at point of sale and enables secure re-closing. An EU regulation is currently being planned for this functionality. Overcaps will soon