PETpla.net Insider 05 / 2020

28 PACKAGING / PALLETISING PETplanet Insider Vol. 21 No. 05/20 www.petpla.net PACKAGING Technologies for primary and secondary packaging With its further developed palletiser infeed the turnkey supplier KHS intends to consistently continuing to provide greater sustainability, ef fi ciency and process reliability in pro- duction. An intelligently controlled palletiser with a pressure- less container infeed provides bene fi ts not just regarding sustainability. It also optimises time sequences and simpli- fi es work steps in production, among other things. Besides especially gentle pack handling the elimination of railings facilitates and shortens format changeovers. This notice- ably increases line availability. The palletiser is of particular interest to customers specialised in the palletising of non- returnable packs and cartons with different formats and who often feed in packs alternately on one, two or three lanes. The machine can also be used for returnable containers. KHS is also continuing to build on its consulting expertise in the service sector, for instance concerning ‘old’ machines with discontinued components with the aim of extending the machine’s service life. Unlike mechanical components, in the age of Industry 4.0 the lifetime of an electronic compo- nent is sometimes shortened to just two years according to the German Mechanical Engineering Industry Associa- tion VDMA. “Our various services enable our customers to operate their plant engineering reliably in the long term regardless,” explains Dr Johannes T. Grobe, CSO for the Dortmund engineering company. If a component is discon- tinued, this means that parts can be replaced accordingly or conversions carried out to ensure that the machine continues to function and operation runs smoothly at the respective beverage producer’s plant. For instance, older KHS palletisers containing discontinued Kuka KRC2 control units can be operated without any problems for many more years by converting them to new controllers. The supply of spare parts is therefore also ensured. www.khs.com Newly designed blow moulding machine for ecological packaging B e k u m , machine builder and specialist for extrusion blow moulded pack- aging, recently focused on the p r ocess i ng o f recycling materi- als, calcium car- bonate (chalk) and newly developed PET materials. With the “Concept 808” machine study presented at the K 2019 trade fair, Bekum heralds the future of the extrusion blow moulding machine with more energy-ef fi cient extrusion and very fast produc- tion changes. Over the past several years, Bekum has optimised their PET processing technology. The extrusion blow moulding of PET bottles integrating a true fl ow-through handle identi fi able as #1 recyclable PET has long been a packaging goal for consumer products groups. By year’s end, a total of 16 Bekum Hyblow 407D and Hyblow 607D machines will be engaged in round-the-clock, fully automated production of handled bottles in fully #1 recyclable PET – this increases the total installation for this application to 40 machines in North America. Exten- sive extruder and feedscrew development has been carried out by Bekum to address the primary challenges of extruding high viscosity PET. The shear sensitivity of PET at higher throughput rates can drastically increase stock temperature and reduce parison hang strength. Also regrind presents a problem due to the differences in melting characteristics and bulk density of bottle/ fl ash fl ake. Bekum’s Extrusion System development is claimed to result in consistent PET material throughput at acceptable stock temperatures when running up to 50% process regrind. Fast production changes – 15 minutes for a mould change The changing of blow moulds and, in particular, of multiple blow pins is complex and set-up procedures have a direct impact on the productivity of the plant. The magnetic quick- change system for blow moulding machines, available for the fi rst time from Bekum, allows moulds to be changed in just 15 minutes per clamping unit – without the need for tools or special mould carriages. An integrated roller table, which is required in order to remove the moulds, only takes up a small amount of space. Moulds are inserted into and removed from the front of the machine, which means that there is no need to leave space at the sides of the machine for this purpose. Moulds can be transported using either a fork lift or a crane. All that is required is a magnetic mould platen back to be able to integrate existing moulds into the system. Electrical energy is only required for the clamping system during magnetisation and demagnetisation. The clamping function is guaranteed in the event of a power outage. www.bekum.com