K 2010 : Your perfect bottle..

'Competence in Solutions' is a guiding principle KHS GmbH consistently applies and will be demonstrated once again at this year's K 2010 trade show in Düsseldorf.  As an international partner for filling and packaging technology in the beverage, food, and non-food sectors, KHS' great competence in the design and manufacture of complete systems and individual machines is convincing.  The company also provides assistance and support to the beverage, food, and non-food branches of industry throughout the entire service life of KHS products.

At K 2010, together with KHS Corpoplast and KHS Plasmax KHS will be presenting various PET bottle design solutions under the motto of 'Your Perfect Bottle'.  The focus will be on the KHS Bottles & Shapes program, the new InnoPET Blomax Series IV generation of stretch blow molders, andInnoPET Plasmax barrier coating. 

There will be a large number of different PET bottles on show, all designed, developed, and tested within the Bottles & Shapes program.  With this program and over 35 years of experience with PET, KHS Corpoplast provides companies with continuous advice and support throughout the entire development process, from the initial idea for a plastic container to its industrial manufacture and flawless performance in the filling line.  One important aspect of the Bottles & Shapes program with regard to sustainability and cost is the development of lightweight, extremely robust and rigid PET bottles.  Only recently KHS Corpoplast introduced what is probably the lightest 0.5-liter PET bottle weighing just 6.4 grams.  Another pioneering development is the 1.5-liter PET bottle for still water with a weight of only 17.9 grams that is currently undergoing tests for implementation in commercial production. 

The new InnoPET Blomax Series IV generation of stretch blow molders is the perfect high-speed production system for even lighter and increasingly environmentally-friendly PET bottle designs developed in the Bottles & Shapes program.  It even tops KHS' stretch blow molding technology on the market to date, not only meeting customer demands regarding speed, precision, and quality in the manufacture of PET bottles at the most impressive level, but also those pertaining to sustainability and reduced overall operating costs per unit.  A few of the many advantages of theInnoPET Blomax Series IV are described in the following.  The time required to heat preforms has been halved.  The innovative CleverLoc system with half the form carrier movable and the other half fixed lengthens the machine's service life, enables an increased speed of up to 2,200 bottles an hour per blow station, and ensures even better process stability with its solid design.  The gentle treatment of preforms has been optimized by adding an active mandrel.  The precision of the stretching process has also been boosted by implementing servo technology.  The new stretching process also reduces the time needed for changeovers when manufacturing different types of PET bottle.  The output-independent stretching motion provides greater process flexibility, process optimization, and process capability.  In Düsseldorf, KHS will have the blow stations from the newest series of stretch blow molding machines on display to give visitors to K 2010 a good impression of the innovative generation of stretch blow molders and let them experience hands-on high tech. 

Another area that will undoubtedly fascinate visitors to the trade show and generate much interest is KHS' barrier technology now in use the world over. KHS InnoPET Plasmax coats the inside of PET bottles with an ultra thin layer of silicon oxide (SiO_x).  The appearance of both bottle and product remain unaltered without affecting the excellent recycling properties of the PET bottle, as SiO_x is pure glass, gas tight, and completely invisible.  This thin film of glass gives the PET containers the barrier characteristics only heavy glass bottles otherwise have.  InnoPET Plasmax can thus use lightweight PET bottles to also package sensitive beverages, such as beer, juice, wine, and ketchup, which are then able to retain their high quality for longer – at capacities of up to 40,000 bottles per hour.