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Austrian injection machinery maker Engel is to launch a new all-electric moulding machine designed specifically for production of plastics caps and closures at the K show in Germany in the autumn, according to the company’s vice-president R&D Dr Georg Steinbichler.
Speaking this week at a special briefing at the company’s headquarters in Schwertberg, Austria, Steinbichler claimed the e-Cap machine is the first all-electric type to be designed specifically for cap production.
“No other machine in the market can produce caps and closures as economically as the e-Cap,” he said.
A 380-tonne version of the e-Cap design has been running for some time in Engel’s development laboratory at Schwertberg. However, the company will show a larger 420-tonne version at K 2010, which it says is more typical of the type of machine required to handle the high production rates and the 96-cavity tooling typical in this sector.
Key to the e-Cap’s high production efficiency is a newly designed injection unit with a special screw developed for high throughput plasticising of packaging grade polymers, as well as an uprated ejector system, Steinbichler said.
At the K show, the 420-tonne machine will be fitted with a 96-cavity mould producing 26mm diameter “x-light” closures on a 2.6s cycle time.
According to Engel, the e-Cap has potential to bring faster cycle times and higher outputs to the plastics caps and closures market, which it estimates amounts to some 750bn moulded components a year worldwide.
A major attraction of the machine will be the low energy consumption of its electric drive technology. Steinbichler said energy typically accounts for 7.1% of overall cost of plastics caps and closure production, making it the second largest production cost after material (which accounts for a typical 67.5% of the total).
Steinbichler said other significant costs include moulds (6.4%), machinery (4.8%) and personnel and labour (3.5%).
Caps and closures represent a very interesting and fast growing niche in the overall plastics packaging marketplace.
According to beverage market and packaging analyst Canadean, global demand for caps and closures for beverage applications alone has grown at an average rate of close to 4% a year since 2002 and even during last year recorded an increase of 1.8%. It estimates plastics account for more than 58% of global closure demand (excluding can ends).
From:http://www.europeanplasticsnews.com
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