Groupe Sidel has announced a breakthrough: using aluminum molds in hot-fill blow molding.Aluminum is an alternative to traditional stainless-steel molds in heat-resistant blow molding. The F300 aluminum mold can withstand temperatures as high as 325°F, so it can make PET bottles suitable for hot-filling or pasteurization, Sidel said.
Aluminum molds can be machined two weeks faster than stainless-steel molds, according to the company. Also, a lighter mold means less weight to move on the machine. It also reduces the time to change bottle shapes.
Sidel of Le Havre, France, developed and tested the mold with Graham Packaging Co. LP. Graham of York, Pa., is using more than 100 of the F300 aluminum molds at several of its U.S. plants.
Sidel is a major maker of blow molds, with two mold plants in France, one in Shanghai and one at Sidel Inc. in Norcross, Ga.
In other news, Sidel:
* Together with Systech Instruments Ltd. of Oxon, England, rolled out the Systech 8700, which analyzes the oxygen transmission rate of bottles treated with Sidel's Actis internal plasma coating technology. The unit is designed to meet the high output of Sidel's Actis 48 machine.
* Unveiled the fastest Combi blow molding machine, which can produce 61,200 bottles an hour.
Tel. 678-221-3000, fax 678-221-3518.