At the Cutting Edge of Beverage Filling - Verpackungs-Rundschau

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Handling and Filling In the past year, several issues have surfaced in the discussion of handling and filling shaped beverage cans in beverage production lines. Given their reducedstructural strength, can they handle the compressive pressure exerted in the filling process? What effect will the shaped can walls have on the ability of the can to handle vertical pressure and how will this affect the filling process? How complicated will change-overs between shaped and straight-wall cans be? Are dedicated lines required to handle the shaped cans? Based on field experience, the Crown Simplimatic filling system demonstrated that the handling and filling systems could be modified to accommodate shaped and straight-wall cans on the same line. Depending on the specific shaped can design, handling system guide rails and top covers can be set at the appropriate heights to run both cans without adjustment, eliminating potential change-over and line down time. Effective filling of the shaped can requires attention to product flow and vertical sealing pressures. Creating the proper product flow angle into the shaped container reduces agitation, potential foaming and improves fill height control. The patented cushion seal filling system ensures that virtually no pressure is exerted on the can during filling. This eliminates any concerns regarding possible reduced vertical pressure specifications of shaped containers. Corner Cut-outs Multipacks for the new can were designed by Mead Packaging, the Atlantabased division of The Mead Corporation. Mead Packaging also created the Basketwrap multipack for the 20-ounce plastic contour bottle in 1994. The can packs feature corner cut-outs to emphasise the curves of the can. Six, eight and eighteen-can configurations are possible with the end-loaded, sleeve-style multipack. Each configuration has a different handle design.Six-packs have finger holes, eight-packs a single-ply strap handle and eighteen packs a grip slot handle. End panels are glued with a hot melt adhesive. Together with Mead and the Coca- Cola Company, can designers and manufacturers were involved in the multipack project. The packaging was produced at Mead’s converting facility in Atlanta, Georgia, using Mead CNK paperboard, which is suitable for both wet and dry serving environments. A range of packaging solutions were created to meet the new contour can specifications and selection of the final multipack style followed extensive marketing evaluations and consumer testing. A customised Mead Duodozen packaging system was installed to multi pack the contour cans. Ian W. Millar, president of Mead packaging said that secondary packaging had become valued for its ability to enhance and promote unique primary shapes. “We believe this trend will strengthen and we see a special bond growing between primary and secondary packaging similar to what has been accomplished for the contour bottle and now for the contour can,” he concluded. BH CANS Feel the Bubbles An embossed can for Sprite was recently launched by The Coca-Cola Company in US test markets. Indented bubbles and silver tears are highlighted through registered embossing on the can which is made by American National Can. Printing is carried out before the indentations are made, on equipment from Ragsdale Machinery, Englewood, Colorado. ❐ The Intelligent Can British Steel Tinplate has developed a new beverage can that tells the consumer when the contents are ideally chilled at between 5 and 8 °C. Called the Smart Can, the container carries an ultra-thin plastic film label that is printed with monochrome ink that reacts optically to temperature changes. When the can cools, the colour of the film turns from white to blue and the text “ready to serve” appears on the label. Coca-Cola and Pepsi are both using the can for promotional activities and several large breweries and producers of carbonated drinks are showing interest in the concept. ❐ VR Beverage Packaging 1997 25
CARTONS A Bottle Made of Cardboard It is made of laminated cardboard, like a traditional milk container, but it is bottle-shaped and has a screw cap. It’s a new, patented container designed by Italpak, who also sells the machine to build, fill and close the new container which has generated great interest among large companies in the food, detergent and cosmetic markets. The Pack To combine the advantages of the traditional laminated cardboard container and the PET bottle – this was the philosophy behind the new container which Modenabased Italpak introduced at Ipack-Ima 1997. Italpak created both the pack, called “Self Closing”, and the machine needed to produce, fill and close it. Being made of laminated cardboard, Self Closing can be regarded as an evolution of the traditional container which Tetrapack made so successful in the milk market. The most important innovations in the new pack are the bottle-like shape and the bottle-like outlet with screw cap. In addition a tremendous improvement in flexibility has been achieved. The user can choose among three different shapes (square/rectangular, round or oval base) and among sizes ranging from 10 millilitres to 2 litres. This means that Self Closing can be used for a much wider range of products, not only in the food market but also in the detergent and cosmetic sectors and many others besides, e.g. engine oil packaging. An aluminium seal can be placed under the screw cap to prevent tampering. Furthermore, the container can be produced without an outlet,for use in the packaging of liquid and non-liquid food, such as fresh cheese or yoghurt. Compared to the traditional laminated cardboard container, Self Closing is easier to open and re-close, ensuring hermetic re-closability. It also allows for the contents to be poured until the last drop. Compared to the PET bottle, Self Closing is probably less expensive, needs no label and offers the entire pack surface for printing and design. Patented world-wide, the new container was invented by Giordano Magnoni, owner of Italpak and a veteran of the packaging industry. “We really believe Self Closing is a big breakthrough in the world packaging arena,offering something really new to a market which is always seeking new ideas,“ Mr Magnoni said. “We have already received a lot of interest from major food, cosmetic and chemical companies, there we expect a big success world-wide”. The Machine The inventor of a new pack has a range of options which include selling the patent and selling the right to produce the new package under licence agreements. Italpack is seeking to sell to each user the special machine needed to build,fill,close and seal the new container. The machine was also designed by Italpak and it too is an innovation. Italpak had to satisfy several specific requirements in order to produce the special bottle-like shape of Self Closing and solder the outlet part on top of it. A prototype of the machine was exhibited at the last Ipack-Ima show in Milan and serial production can now commence. Production speeds of 3600 pieces per hour can be achieved with the machine whereby higher speeds are possible if a customer so wishes. The machine can be adapted to run in antiseptic conditions, it is easy to clean and has a relatively small footprint. Italpak declined to disclose the particular features of the machine. Giordano Magnoni, who founded Italpak in 1984, keeps information on the company very close to his chest and declined to disclose details on company revenue or size of workforce. Up until now, Italpak has been a supplier of packaging services, i.e. producing and filling sachets for free samples or single portions of sauces, etc. As part of this activity, the company has already developed other innovative containers, for example Brovit, and has built packaging machines for their own internal use. Clearly, large-scale sale of the new machine to multinational companies would mean a big change in activities for Italpak and would require the reinforcement of the sales and after-sale service divisions.“We are aware of this and we are already addressing these needs through initiatives which at present I cannot disclose,” Mr Magnoni said. Roberto Frazzoli 26 VR Beverage Packaging 1997
Page 1 and 2: At the Cutting Edge of Beverage Fil
Page 3 and 4: COVER STORY At the Cutting Edge of
Page 5 and 6: DESIGN Style Comes to the Plastic B
Page 7 and 8: Tear and stack DESIGN Travel bottle
Page 9 and 10: BEER speed glass bottling line was
Page 11 and 12: BEER look of the design on the fini
Page 13 and 14: BEER To meet rising demand, Kaiser
Page 15 and 16: SOFT DRINKS No vehicle is too small
Page 17 and 18: GLASS/PET Chopping and Changing Gla
Page 19 and 20: GLASS/PET New RefPET Plant in the C
Page 21: CANS Photo: The Coca-Cola Company I
Page 25 and 26: LABELLING clean and dry. This enabl
Page 27 and 28: BITS & PIECES More Than Just Bottle

At the Cutting Edge of Beverage Filling - Verpackungs-Rundschau

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