At this year´s Interpack, Düsseldorf, May 12 – 18, Illig will present innovative and economical technology concepts for food packs manufactured by thermoforming.The newly designed FSL 48 form, fill and seal line will be presented there for the first time. It is suitable to meet the requirements of the food and especially the dairy industry and can be equipped in such a way that it will comply with a variety of hygienic demands. In this way standards can be met up to hygiene class IV according to VDMA (hygienic filling machines) for filling and packaging.
At the same time packs with brilliant decoration can be realized by employing an also newly developed IML (In-Mold Labeling) station which can be integrated in the production unit. There is a great variety of cup shape options since for IML decoration walls don´t have to be vertical. These options with respect to individual cup design in conjunction with attractive labeling enhance product presentation on the supermarket shelf.
At Interpack, Illig will additionally show solutions for thermoforming of containers with pronounced undercuts. So far, these containers could only be realized by injection molding and blow molding. Moreover, the numerous possibilities provided by skin and blister packaging will be presented.
The multi-lane filler, also newly developed for FSL 48, is suitable for CIP (Cleaning in Place) and SIP (Sterilization in Place) and consequently can be generally used as aseptic filling device. The machine´s hygiene levels range from forming with sterile air, complete covering of filling section (also available in CIP/SIP version) through to lid material sterilization by means of UV radiation. The machine is connected to a so-called sterile module for generation of sterile air and hot steam as well as peroxide spraying of filling tunnel.
All FSL 48 stations are equipped with energy-efficient state-of-the-art servo motors. Smooth motion sequencing and high operating speed are thus attained. Subject to processed material a speed of up to 32 cycles/min is achieved.
Thanks to the thermoformer´s format area of 480 mm x 320 mm (for packs without decoration up to 350 mm) always a complete cycle output – e.g. 12 standard curd packs – can be placed in a box adjusted in size to the dimensions of a euro-pallet. All conventional plastic materials and all materials suited for processing on FFS lines can be processed on the new FSL 48, such as PS, PP, multilayer materials (e. g. PS/EVOH/PE), APET, and even foils made of biopolymer PLA (polylactic acid). This also applies to heat-sealable lid materials.
The integrated IML unit employed for decoration of the thermoformed cups works with printed blanks from the magazine. Numerous decoration options can thus be realized: One-sided, two-sided, three-sided (e. g. U-shape), four- or even five-sided (including bottom decoration with e. g. integrated barcode), and this coupled with a great freedom of choice with respect to cup geometry. PP and also PS labels can be processed (without additional adhesive agent) or paper labels.
