Hot-Fill PET Bottles have panel-less, ribless design.
April 14, 2005 - Suited for 16 and 20 oz applications, PowerFlex™ hot-fill polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles mimic aesthetics, performance, and feel of glass. Products, adaptable to many shapes, have completely smooth label panel free of any kind of ribbing. Straight wall has no points of stress concentration, which removes potential for bending. Vacuum distortion occurs only in base, where diaphragm draws upward as liquid cools.
(Archive News Story - Products mentioned in this Archive News Story may or may not be available from the manufacturer.)
Original Press release
Amcor PET Packaging
10521 S. Highway M-52
Manchester, MI, 48158
USA
Amcor Launches PowerFlex™ —Panel-less, Ribless Hot-Fill PET Bottle Technology
Manchester, MI — (March 18, 2005) —Amcor PET Packaging launches the next generation in hot-fill polyethylene terephthalate (PET) bottles.
PowerFlex™ is Amcor’s revolutionary panel-less design which takes hot-fill (182-192 degrees Fahrenheit) packaging options to a new plateau. Initially the company will be targeting 16- and 20-ounce applications, but will look at developing a full range of options for beverage customers from 8- to 32-ounces. Future development of the PowerFlex™ technology may well expand its application beyond beverages.
Amcor’s structural design not only eliminates the panels, but unlike recently launched competitive containers, PowerFlex™ has a large, completely smooth label panel – free of any kind of ribbing.
That makes PowerFlex™ the first-ever, true panel-less, ribless, hot-fill PET bottle. Finally, a bottle has arrived that mimics the aesthetics, performance and feel of glass—which is what the marketplace has long been anticipating.
Another key benefit is that the PowerFlex™ bottle can run smoothly on any filling line set up for traditional (with panels) hot-filled PET bottles. With this technology, there is no need to alter the filling line or compromise the filling process.
The panel-less, ribless technology enables premium profiles and is adaptable to many shapes. This gives bottlers the flexibility to come up with innovative, breakthrough designs that were not previously possible with hot-fill plastic containers.
“Bottles with panels create constraints that dramatically limit design options and therefore a brand owner’s ability to use the container to creatively market the product,” explains David Andison, vice president, business strategies, Amcor PET Packaging.
Up until now, many beverage bottlers did not have a PET alternative that met both their hot-fill and their aesthetic requirements, thereby forcing their premium brands (juices, teas, isotonics, etc.) to stay the course in glass containers. However, the launch of PowerFlex™ permanently changes the playing field.
In development for the past couple of years, PowerFlex™ features a proprietary diaphragm in the base of the container. Previously, sidewall panels were necessary to absorb the distortion that occurs as a hot-filled beverage cools to room temperature. (After the bottle is capped, the filled liquid cools, which, in turn, pulls an internal vacuum that must be dissipated structurally.)
Amcor’s technical staff, through a combination of design and manufacturing innovations, has created a bottle with the vacuum distortion occurring only in the base. A specially designed diaphragm draws upward from the base as the liquid cools. It has both the thickness and the geometric characteristics to enable the inverted cone shaped diaphragm to deflect upward as the vacuum is pulled.
“Because you no longer have panels in the sidewall, this makes the bottle easier to label. You don’t have to worry about mislabeling—missing the vertical bars in applying labels. Nor do you have to worry about the ripple effect labeling over panels can cause,” Andison explains.
Additionally the geometry of the straight wall design gives PowerFlex™ great top load characteristics. The straight wall has no points of stress concentration which removes the potential of bending.
The superior stacking characteristic, light weight and durability opens additional marketing opportunities for premium beverages such as warehouse or club stores.
"Club stores have been demanding stackable, unbreakable containers. Up until now, premium beverages have been reluctant to convert, since the heat-set panels could cause some loss of positive image perception," Andison says.
Converting from glass to plastic not only minimizes breakage and freight costs, but also expands marketing opportunities to outdoor venues, vending and other locations where glass is typically not desirable.
Initially, the PowerFlex™ bottles will be produced at Amcor’s Allentown, PA plant. Manufacturing will expand to other Amcor facilities as geographic requirements and production volumes dictate.
“We are excited to once again bring to market another packaging first,” says Andison. “We continue to be committed to creating packaging solutions that lead the field.”
Amcor PET Packaging is the leading manufacturer of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic packaging for the global food and beverage industries, with 70 manufacturing sites in 20 countries. Its parent company, Amcor Limited, offers a broad range of packaging solutions and ranks as one of the top three packaging companies in the world. Amcor’s extensive operations have grown in 2004 to include 236 plants in 42 countries. It is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia and, for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2004, had sales revenues of US$7.4 billion. For further information, visit www.amcor.com.
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User comments about this story
BUSINESS ENQUIRY
Are you still in production? Is it possible then to obtain the technology for manufacturing these bottles for our pineapple processing plant in Ghana? Alternatively, can you supply the bottles?
Happy new year
By Osei on Dec 29, 2011 12:09
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heiio
i working to a packaging&printing factory to iran. we need information by hot fill bottell product mechanism.my factory want to import this mechanism (injection molding)to my country.so i am very happy if you help me.bye.
By farhad on May 15, 2010 14:37
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hot fill pet bottle
we are the mango pulp producer from last three years in the Gujarat. We are going to start our unit with small scale near junagadh- Gujarat approx. 1000 km from Mumbai.
we are searching for special bottle for filling the mango pulp as we are going to launch our product in the market this year. We required attractive bottle in shape, transperent & unreactive with added preservatives i mean bottle should made from the virgin plastic and should be food graded material & capable to withstand 100 dec C temperature.
As for ur information,we required 5000 to 8000 bottles per season in various size like 1 lit, 2 lit and 3 lit.
This year we will take trial for receiving bottle. If it is possible for u to sent one bottle with narrow mouth than we will take trial and see the results.
Also send costing for above mentioned size of bottle with transportation as i mentioned the distances too.
Regards,
Nilesh Kapuriya
Surat
My Cell No. 9978910580
By Nilesh K. Kapuriya on Apr 8, 2009 07:55
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