Tetra Pak targets convenience with new carton closure

Tetra Pak has launched a range of direct injection moulded closures for gable-top cartons that it believes taps into current consumer concerns for safety, convenience and style.

Tetra Pak has launched a range of direct injection moulded closures for gable-top cartons that it believes taps into current consumer concerns for safety, convenience and style. The Delta Opening System range has been specially designed for the chilled liquid food sector. Delta TwistCap, the first member of this new closure generation, made its debut in field tests at the TINE dairy in Bergen, Norway during December 2004, and the company has now launched the product commercially. The Delta Unit, required to apply the DeltaTwistCap, is available as an option on new Tetra Rex TR/7 Series II gable-top filling machines, and as a retrofit to existing TR/7 machines already installed. Tetra Pak says that machines equipped with the new closure will fill at the standard TR/7 speed of 6,000 packages/hour (100/minute). Delta TwistCap features a spout, which is integrated into the carton using a Delta Unit TR/7 and replaces the carton ‘blank’ magazine and in-feed on standard TR/7 equipment. The spout is created from plastic granules and moulded directly onto carton blanks, using the ‘Direct Injection Moulded Concept’ (DIMC) made popular by other Tetra Pak chilled carton systems, such as Tetra Brik and Tetra Top. Moulding occurs at a sterile 200ºC, just seconds before the product is filled. The overcap on the otherhand is applied by a Capper 20 Overcap Applicator, downstream of the filling machine.