Sidel has introduced a “completely flat” oval bottle base for PET/rPET containers as part of its StarLite range.
Based on a 360-degree continuous contact surface, the StarLite HPC has an anti-rocking design that is said to increase container stability by up to 25 per cent.
The contact surface improves tilt angle and can be combined with structural ribs and oval push-up, Sidel said.
The StarLite HPC also optimises bottle weight and energy consumption, reducing production costs and greenhouse gas emissions, the company added.
“The doubled sitting surface and the balanced stretching ratios between small and large sides enable better material distribution, while avoiding base sagging,” explained Laurent Naveau, packaging expert at Sidel.
Applicable for both opaque and transparent PET resins, the StarLite HPC base is compliant with rPET up to 100 per cent.
According to the company, the asymmetric, structured base design improves material distribution, prevents unexpected base roll-out and contributes to light-weighting opportunities equal to a 0.5g PET reduction for a 500ml container base.
Another advantage of the oval shape is that it helps increase production uptime, offering what Sidel said is better container stability on conveyors compared with existing major flat PET container bases.
Furthermore, the enhanced base cooling engineering for mould and tooling design is described as improving base cooling during blow moulding, and also may prevent post-mould base cooling depending on the bottle shape, format and weight.
The StarLite HPC base is said to reduce blow moulding pressure by up to 10 per cent – in other words, a 3-bar decrease for a 420ml container. Sidel claimed that its use enables the process speed limit to be pushed further, increasing production output up to 15 per cent higher than the market average.
As an example, a flat container produced at 1,600 bottles per hour per mould (bhm) with a standard market base can be blown up to 1,800bhm with the StarLite HPC base, with possibilities to reach up to 2,000bhm, according to bottle shape.
With the investment in a new set of moulds equipped with the StarLite HPC base, Sidel suggested payback of less than a year can be achieved, drastically reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
The StarLite HPC is compatible with all generations of Sidel blow moulding machines: SBO EvoBlow, SBO Universal, SBO Series2, and SBO Series1.
