Greiner Packaging
The Kavoblow machine combines flexibility and productivity during injection stretch blow molding in the plastics industry. Credit: Mould & Matic
Greiner Packaging and Mould & Matic have collaborated to produce Kavoblow, a new injection stretch blow moulding machine for the plastics industry.
The machine is based on the one-step method of blow moulding for the manufacture of hollow parts, where the preforms are inflated immediately after the injection process while still warm. The companies say they have been working since 2009 on refining the process to make it more efficient.
“High flexibility coupled with maximum productivity are the major advantages of the new method. Kavoblow allows for the manufacture of packaging with non-round and off-centre mouths, as well as individual colours in many kinds of material such as PET, PP, and more,” explained Günter Ausserwöger, Head of Division for Kavoblow. “The range of mouth diameters extends from very small, for example for liquor, to very large wide-neck containers for the food industry, for example.”
Kavoblow reportedly offers greatly improved efficiency and lower production costs compared with existing machine concepts, for example, preforms are line-produced in multiple rows. Several production pieces can therefore be made within a shorter period of time.
The technology is aimed particularly at the 5-20 million units segment and Ausserwöger says combines the high quality of a one-step production process with the efficiency previously reserved for two-step systems, where the preforms are cooled and stored after the injection procedure before being reheated and inflated in a second production process.
So far, products produced with Kavoblow have been primarily for the ketchup, honey, marmalade, sauce, mouth rinse, and household cleaner markets. But Ausserwöger says an increasing number of customers from other sectors, such as the chemical, cosmetic, and healthcare industries, are conveying interest in packaging concepts based on the technology.
“With Kavoblow, we offer the optimal technology for fulfilling individual market needs while at the same time ensuring high productivity. Customer-specific special editions can be produced in a cost-effective manner. We guarantee the highest quality with the one-step method – the stroke marks that occur during storage in the two-step method have become a thing of the past," Ausserwöger concluded.