INNOVATION | CAPS & CLOSURES
Right: The IMDvista
system on an Engel cell producing bottle caps
quired plasticising capacity “and a maximum of usable parts even when using the new high- strength HDPE materials with an MFI significantly lower than 2 or even 1 g/10 min. In addition, the increased ejection and clamping forces help to achieve very short cycle times.” IMDvista’s Twin flying closure system is said to solve one of the biggest challenges in the inline- inspection of beverage caps. “Usually, the freshly produced caps undergo camera inspection while lying on a conveyor belt. This means that the top side of the caps cannot be viewed by the cameras. With the new technology, caps are lifted by a stream of air, and can thus be inspected from above and below without extending processing time,” Engel says.
Engel showed a similar system at NPE. This one used an E-Cap 2440/420 US machine equipped with a 96-cavity mould by Z-Moulds and an optical inspection system by Intravis. Frank Schuster, Vice President Business Unit
Below: A turnkey
solution with two interlinked hybrid Arburg Allrounders produces disc-top closures for the cosmetics industry in a cost-effective way, says the company
Packaging at Engel, tells Injection World: “We see that brand owners in particular are very busy with the topic of the circular economy. It is about a second life for caps and closures, but also about the design and the materials. There are approaches to make the bottle and cap of the same material and to connect the cap firmly to the bottle. “In some markets — for example, the US and
France — recently flip-top closures for still water have come onto the market to ensure that the closure remains firmly attached to the bottle when the bottle is opened. In addition to the circular economy, this is also about convenience, which is still another important trend. “The standard closures for still water are domi-
nated by the subject of lightweight. The minimum currently is just below 0.8 g. From our point of view,
in terms of lightweight design, we’ve now reached the convenience limit.” Also emphasizing the importance of energy con- sumption in cap and closure production is Sumi- tomo (SHI) Demag. With a market share in Europe exceeding 20%, it claims the top spot in injection moulding machinery for plastics packaging – and it says its high-speed hybrid El-Exis SP, launched 20 years ago and now in its fourth generation, is the main contributor to this success. Depending on production parameters, the latest El-Exis SP, introduced two years ago, requires up to 20% less energy than its predecessor.
Big machines Arburg is making a bigger push into the packaging market. Its 5,000 kN hybrid Allrounder 920 H is the first of the company’s new range of large machines with new clean designs and optional Gestica controls (two more have clamp forces of 6,500 and 4,000 kN) to be made available in a packaging version. It has improved injection units of sizes 2100 and 3200. “Using adjusted valve technology, this allows, for example, even higher dynamics, reproducibility and injection speeds of up to 500mm/s to be achieved,” the company says. All Arburg Allrounders in “Packaging” versions – hybrid and electric – are suited to production of closures, as well as thin-wall products and medical products such as pipette tips and syringe barrels. Arburg highlights a turnkey system it designed for
18 INJECTION WORLD | July/August 2018
www.injectionworld.com
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