Serac's Roll N Blow bottle thermoforming machines have been recognised at the 9th Global Dairy Congress.
Receiving the World Dairy Innovation Award in the Manufacturing/ Process Innovation category, the machines are able to produce bottles out of plastic sheet reels in the same way as yoghurt cups.
Thermoforming is not carried out through a flat process but a vertical one which forms the plastic sheet into a tube before it's heated and blown into a mould. More tolerant than extrusion or stretch blow moulding, the process requires few plastic processing skills. The use of plastic sheets ensures a uniform distribution of the material without the need to monitor advanced parameters in the heating and blowing process – and the unit can be easily started and shut down to accommodate filling constraints.
Less expensive than extrusion or stretch blow moulding units, Roll N Blow machines can be considered for small and medium-sized production series.
The Roll N Blow's key features:
- It is cost-efficient, using economical on-site manufacturing equipment with low energy consumption. It offers a low plastic weight per bottle and the option of producing bottles out of pre-printed plastic sheets.
- It is space-saving. Its vertical process means bottles go directly to the filling machine without need for storage tanks and unscramblers.
- It is easy to operate, shut down and restart, requiring very few plastic processing skills.
- It is versatile, able to use PP or PS as raw material. It offers various designs, shapes and appearances, with standard or calibrated necks.
- Its main applications are standard, squeezable or microwavable bottles up to 500ml. It can be used for pasteurised milks, drinking yogurts, probiotics, ESL dairy drinks, sterilised milks, and UHT flavoured milks.
