| A new lightweight PET bottle for hot-fill applications requiring smooth walls has been developed by Graham Packaging Co. L.P. York, Pa. Its new Escape bottle is about 20% lighter than usual, owing to a new panel-less design. After the bottle is filled and capped it goes through a patented Continuous Motion Activator (CMA) machine that inverts the base, which takes up the vacuum in the bottle and creates a slight overpressure. This gives the bottle a rigid feel, without using hoop rings or backing panels.
CMA is an advance over Graham’s Active Transverse Panel (ATP) technology for panel-free hot-fill bottles, using an older inverse-base process that required more complex bottle handling. Graham says CMA is inexpensive, easy to install, and doesn’t require an operator. It is installed at two bottling plants. First user of the Escape bottle is Honest Tea of Bethesda, Md. Its Escape bottle is 6.5 g lighter than the PET bottle previously used.
(717) 849-8500 • www.grahampackaging.com |
