Next-generation stretch blow moulding at NPE2018

W. Amsler Equipment Inc., a leading supplier of all-electric linear PET stretch blow moulders, will introduce its next-generation four-cavity all-electric reheat stretch blow molder at the upcoming NPE2018 May 7-11 at the Orlando County Convention Center in Orlando, Fla. (Booth #S21067). The company will also exhibit its newly-enhanced leak tester that inspects bottles from 10ml to 23L and its standalone spin trimmer for both stretch- and extrusion-blown containers.

 

W. Amsler also announced that General Manager Bruce Coxhead will give a presentation entitled “Linear Blow Moulding of Non-Conventional Barrier Containers” at NPE’s Bottle Zone Technical Forum on Wednesday, May 9, at 10:45 a.m.

 

The L42X all-electric reheat machine offers several new features including preferential heating, neck orientation, and hot-fill capabilities. “For custom blow moulders, the next-generation four-cavity machine provides versatility to enable PET bottle production in a range of configurations and sizes,” said Heidi Amsler, sales and marketing manager for W. Amsler.

 

The new machine makes up to 2L containers at a rate of 6500/hour in four cavities. It can also be used to run two-cavity molds for production of larger containers up to 5L. Neck finishes range from 18mm to 70mm.

 

The L42X reheat machine has four parallel heating ovens, one for each cavity. It comes equipped with 12 Bosch-Rexroth servo motors, compared to three servos for the previous model. The extra servos provide more repeatability, lower energy consumption, and require less wiring, resulting in easier troubleshooting, according to W. Amsler. The machine also has a 40-ton servo-driven mould clamping system. Servo systems are used to control preform loading, preform transportation through the machine, rotation through the ovens, stretch rod actuation, motion towards the moulding station and clamp opening, closing, and bottle unloading.

 

Other key features include agitated preform infeed to prevent bridging, preform temperature sensing prior to blow, pre-blow flow control for each cavity, water-cooled neck shields, and a large touchscreen operator interface. Servo-driven stretch rods are 14mm with 10mm and 12mm options.

 

The L42X comes equipped with a large touchscreen operator panel from Wonderware. It has a Windows-based human machine interface (HMI) with full access to assembly drawings, bills of materials (BOMs), set-up guides, troubleshooting, and training videos.

 

The four-cavity system is commercial and W. Amsler has already sold a machine to a custom blow moulder.