PACKAGING | INNOVATION
Injection moulders are finding new ways to meet the needs of brand owners for packaging to enhance their products and increase their appeal. Mark Holmes looks at recent examples
Lightweighting, barriers and brand appeal
Injection moulding materials for packaging applications need to deliver a number of important characteristics, from increased pressures to meet lightweighting targets, to satisfying the varied and diverse requirements of brand owners for shelf appeal and functionality. Moulders are continuing to find novel and innovative ways to achieve these demands. Leo Devellian, Business Development Manager
at Trexel, continues to view lightweighting as a priority to achieve ever increasing sustainability goals and lower production costs in the packaging industry. “Conventional thin wall injection mould- ing imposes limits to package design and maxi- mum flow length relative to wall thickness (L/T) that constrain weight reduction,” he says. “Applying microcellular foaming technology unlocks new weight reduction opportunities by significantly reducing injection pressure, clamp force and eliminating the reliance on screw force to pack the cavity. Microcellular foaming provides the dual advantage of lowering melt viscosity as the
www.injectionworld.com
supercritical fluid is introduced into the machine barrel and packing the cavity at low pressure as the cells expand in the core of the part. A unique benefit of packing by cell growth instead of screw force is the ability to fill from thin-to-thick enabling lighter weight package designs.” Trexel has developed the MuCell P-Series to
provide lighter, lower cost and more sustainable thin wall packaging. “Well established in automotive and technical markets, we have adapted the MuCell gas dosing process to meet the demanding require- ments of fast cycling thin wall packaging,” says Devellian. “The adaptions to the MuCell technology provide the P-Series with the capability to precisely dose N2 as a super critical fluid (SCF) at ultra-fast cycle times not previously possible with Trexel’s benchmark T-Series. For the first time ever, the packaging market will be able to exceed the current limits imposed by conventional injection moulding. “It has been validated that the use of MuCell
P-Series on existing packing products provides 30% reduced clamp tonnage, 12% lower injection
April 2018 | INJECTION WORLD 35
Main image: Probiotic maker Yun Probiotherapy is using the Magic Star airless
dispenser and Vario overcap from RPC Bramlage for its range of treatments for personal care and severe skin problems
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60
