Blow moulding sector will boast of all electric & hybrid extrusion blow moulding machines as well injection blow moulding machines at the forthcoming K 2007 exhibition. All the leading suppliers of blow moulding machines will also very prominently illustrate energy savings. Other innovations at the show will include a compression molding system for PET preforms and a new way to produce lightweight PET water bottles.

PET All Manufacturing Inc., is a new supplier of blow molding machinery from Asia. Its newest continuous-extrusion shuttle is the Can 55, an eight-cavity unit that makes 50 cc to 1 ltr bottles at the speed of about 3000/hr. It has a linear carriage and in-machine deflashing and takeout.
Davis Standard will highlight its recent entry into the intermediate bulk container (IBC) market. The company is targeting this high-growth application with its existing accumulator-head machines. Systems can be supplied with molds for 800L to 1200L IBCs.
A potentially major development in PET preform molding comes from Sacmi of Italy, which makes high-speed, continuous systems for extrusion and compression molding of bottle caps. Its' new Preform Advanced Molding (PAM) system is a 48-cavity prototype that compression molds 27,000 preforms/hr. Its' carbonated soft-drink preform weighs 23 gm and has a 28 PCO neck finish.
Compression offers several advantages over injection moulding of preforms. Energy savings are said to be possible in subsequent stretch-blow moulding because compression molded preforms require less reheating due to different crystal orientation. Compression moulded preforms can also be stretched at the bottom of the bottle due to the absence of an injection gate. Greater weight consistency and more homogeneous material distribution can also be observed with this type of system.

In other PET molding developments, a 500-cc PET water bottle produced on Sidel machines weighs just 9.9 gm and is possibly the lightest PET bottle for water. It weighs 25-40% less than the typical 13-16gm bottle of the same size. The sleek, flexible bottle, dubbed the NoBottle, utilizes so-called flex technology, which provides flexibility and shape memory so that bottles spring back to their original shape when deformed�all without incorporating ribs. Typically, adding ribs to brace the bottle walls can reduce bottle weight. However, ribbed bottles are typically brittle and noisy when compressed, so they reduce shelf appeal. Measuring 198 mm high x 65 mm dia., the NoBottle is easy to grip, supple and less brittle than conventional bottles. The shape-memory effect enables the bottles to better withstand conveying, transportation and handling. Sidel will also launch two reheat machines for larger bottles and greater outputs. The SBO 24xs Highspeed is a rotary model with a linear oven for single-serve bottles of less than 650 cc. The 24-cavity unit has a smaller footprint than the previous model and higher output (40,000 to 46,000 bottles/hr). Also new is the SBO 2XL, a linear unit for bottles up to 10L. Previously, Sidel's rotary machines were limited to container sizes up to 5L. The new unit produces water and edible-oil bottles at 2400/hr.

In other PET molding developments, a 500-cc PET water bottle produced on Sidel machines weighs just 9.9 gm and is possibly the lightest PET bottle for water. It weighs 25-40% less than the typical 13-16gm bottle of the same size. The sleek, flexible bottle, dubbed the NoBottle, utilizes so-called flex technology, which provides flexibility and shape memory so that bottles spring back to their original shape when deformed�all without incorporating ribs. Typically, adding ribs to brace the bottle walls can reduce bottle weight. However, ribbed bottles are typically brittle and noisy when compressed, so they reduce shelf appeal. Measuring 198 mm high x 65 mm dia., the NoBottle is easy to grip, supple and less brittle than conventional bottles. The shape-memory effect enables the bottles to better withstand conveying, transportation and handling. Sidel will also launch two reheat machines for larger bottles and greater outputs. The SBO 24xs Highspeed is a rotary model with a linear oven for single-serve bottles of less than 700 cc. The 24-cavity unit has a smaller footprint than the previous model and higher output (40,000 to 46,000 bottles/hr). Also new is the SBO 2XL, a linear unit for bottles up to 10L. Previously, Sidel's rotary machines were limited to container sizes up to 5L. The new unit produces water and edible-oil bottles at 2400/hr.