ILLIG at Interpack 2011: Distinctly shaped food packaging now produced by thermoforming

At the Interpack trade fair held in Düsseldorf on May 12 – 18, ILLIG presents solutions for thermoforming retail packaging containers with distinctly undercut contours. Previously a domain of injection and blow molding, undercut shapes thus become available in thermoforming to produce packaging of eye-catching design – from cups for jam, sandwich spreads, creamy puddings or fruit yogurts to diverse bottles, e.g., for juice, isotonic beverages or drinkable yogurt products.

At the Interpack trade fair held in Düsseldorf on May 12 – 18, ILLIG presents solutions for thermoforming retail packaging containers with distinctly undercut contours. Previously a domain of injection and blow molding, undercut shapes thus become available in thermoforming to produce packaging of eye-catching design – from cups for jam, sandwich spreads, creamy puddings or fruit yogurts to diverse bottles, e.g., for juice, isotonic beverages or drinkable yogurt products. A BF 70 type forming and punching machine is employed for this purpose. Its concept reflects ILLIG's many years of experience in cup forming and dairy product processing equipment and supports direct interfacing and integration with filling and sealing machines.

In terms of visual appearance, the new undercut thermoformed items are indistinguishable from their injection-molded or blow-molded counterparts. The key difference lies in the molding weight – thermoformed articles are "lightweight", having a mass which may be as much as 40% lower (depending on the application) than that of products made by a competitor process. Given today's resource-saving and cost-cutting drives, this in itself is a huge advantage, especially in conjunction with a distinctive packaging design that ensures high recognition value on the retail shelf. Yet despite this substantial weight reduction, the stiffness and stability required of the packaging in each given application (e.g., top load) is reliably preserved thanks to the high process control repeatability afforded by today's thermoforming technology.

Adapted processes – advantageous logistics
The BF 70 thermoformer is a roll-fed machine. Consistent with standard thermoforming practice, sheet stock is preheated to the molding temperature and then deep-drawn at the forming station before the molded articles are punched out of the web by steel-rule punching dies. To produce undercut moldings by this thermoforming technique, a split-type lower mould part comprising movable segments is employed. Moreover, the molding process is designed to provide a high depth of draw while also ensuring a uniform wall thickness distribution. Only the sheet sections needed to form the product are heated; this is achieved with the aid of contact heater plates adapted to the mold format, using a multi-step process which extends over several cycles. The unheated web sections between the moldings minimize shrinkage of the package band in the longitudinal and transverse directions. The mobility of the mold allows cups to be made in multi-row arrangements, typically two rows in the cross-web direction.

The machine is made entirely of stainless steel to facilitate its direct integration into a filling and sealing line. For the same purpose, the output of the BF 70 has been matched to the performance of today's filling-and-sealing systems by adopting a design that supports fast molding cycles; thermoforming with sterile air is likewise an option. A BF 70 thermoforming machine integrated into a filling-and-sealing line can provide significant savings at the logistics level when compared to externally sourced – e.g., blow molded – containers, reducing material costs while also avoiding substantial shipping and handling expenditures that would otherwise be incurred. Its cost efficiency is further enhanced by short set-up times during product changes – all combined with the capability to produce eye-catching packaging designs for a sustainable product presentation.

Source: ILLIG

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