Machinery manufacturer Krones says the latest generation of its Contiform 3 series sets “another world record” for output for stretch blow-moulding machines, offering small cavity (SC) machines for the high-output range of up to 81,000 PET containers an hour.
According to the Germany-based company, the high-speed Contiform 3 stretch blow-moulding machine for containers sized at max. 0.75 litres is fitted with a newly developed blow-moulding station that operates entirely without lubrication.
“This reduces by 70 per cent the time needed for manual lubrication of the machine compared to the preceding model, and increases the machine’s availability levels,” the company says.
Integrated into the Krones ErgoBloc L wet-end monobloc, four Contiform 3 SC machines are already delivering this level of output at a bottler in the USA, while two more have been ordered by another bottler.
According to Krones, the paramount goal of its innovations is to provide users with low-maintenance, simple-to-operate machines with low standstill times.
“In addition,” the company says, “it had to be possible to synergise the individual machines quite easily to form integrated units, so as to minimise the complexity of production lines and upgrade their efficiency levels.”
Thanks to some “sophisticated” design enhancements, the Krones ErgoBloc L operates with “significantly better” cost-efficiency than previous line concepts.
The company says total operating costs are “up to ten per cent lower” than for conventional bottling lines, while the monobloc’s footprint is said to be 30 per cent smaller.
