thin wall moulding | Packaging
Right: This Packaging specification Arburg Allrounder 820 H produces IML folding baskets for fruit in a cycle time of around 5.8 seconds
co injection technology can be applied in many applications, with walls that are noticeably thinner than the Klear Can. Bennett says it is possible to get down to around 0.3 mm for applications such as coffee capsules and similar
food containers for fish, potted meats, fruit cups, mono-portions. In the US, the
first brand to use the technology for coffee capsules is Keurig Green Mountain, the largest single-serve coffee machine maker (and capsule supplier) in the country.
Bennett says there are now more than 100 Milacron
Milacron and Sumitomo (SHI) Demag among them. Milacron says it is
experiencing an uptick in interest in its co-injection technologies for thin-wall applications, although for now the spotlight remains on the application of co-injection in its Klear Can technology for production of injection moulded
cans (these comprise a clear single piece
Above: This folding basket was produced at Fakuma 2015 on an Arburg Allrounder using a mould from SCS and IML technology from Campe- tella and Verstraete
multi-layer body and base that can be sealed with metal lids on conventional canning equipment). Milacron is aiming Klear Kan at companies currently
canning fruits, vegetables, soups, meats, and other food products. The technology uses the same filling, seaming and retorting machinery as metal cans, so minimal downstream investment is required, while the design resists retort temperatures of up to 125°C. The Klear Kan body is produced by co-injection moulding clarified polypropylene with an EVOH barrier resin in its core. The concept recently passed an important food safety test, carried out at Camden BRI in Chipping Camden, UK, which confirmed the cans can be made leak- proof, and Milacron says the concept is undergoing additional testing with a number of select prospects. Milacron is currently working with various brand
owners on the possible use of the Klear Can for different types of product. Russell Bennett, vice president for global sales of Milacron’s Klear Can and co-injection systems, says evaluations are at various stages. “We are furthest down the line with fruit brand owners,” he says. “Klear Can shows the product off very well. We have done extensive line trials with a couple of canners.” One major international brand owner has already carried out some consumer tests. Bennett expects first products to be in the market in the second quarter of 2016. Klear Can walls are around 1 mm thick to provide the required strength and stiffness. However, Milacron’s
18 INJECTION WORLD | January/February 2016
co-injection systems operating at various customers around the world using Milacron Co-Injection (previ- ously Kortec) technology for production of high-barrier three-layer containers. The vast majority of the systems are for PET preform production (the original Kortec market) but Bennett says thin-wall applications account for around three quarters of current new business. Kortec, which Milacron acquired in 2014, sold its first systems for thin-wall applications in 2010. Ferromatik Milacron F-Series machines are
extensively used for packaging applications. Steve Morris, vice president and general manager of Mila- cron’s co-injection systems group, says the company is now beginning to make these machines in Cincinnati in the US, as well as in Malterdingen in Germany, where they have traditionally been produced. Milacron is not alone in developing a plastic
alternative to the metal food can. In December last year, for example, packaging company Sonoco Products announced that its TruVue can could be on store shelves in a few months. This also uses a clear multi-layer wall but it is cut from extruded tube, with the bottom as well as the top in metal.
Optimised performance Arburg spotlights the P versions of its hybrid and electric Allrounders for packaging applications. The company says they combine the requirement for short cycles with reduced energy demands and consistently high product quality, featuring FEM-optimised mount- ing platens, fast and precise mould movements, high filling dynamics, short injection times and high plasticising capacities. Andreas Reich, senior sales manager for packaging, says Arburg now offers P versions of its Allrounder Hidrive hybrids in six clamping force levels from 1,300 to 4,600kN (130 to 460-tonnes). “Because the packaging sector mainly requires machines with clamping forces above 2,000kN, this represents an important extension to our product range,” he says.
www.injectionworld.com
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