German company jointly develops new plasma coating equipment with unique features

Germany's SIG Corpoplast Corp. and Schott HiCotec of Germany jointly developed a new type of plasma coating equipment with unique features. This device was launched in mid-2003 and was named PLASMAX to improve the barrier properties of PET bottles.

Schott HiCotec of Germany developed Plasma Pulse Chemical Vapor Deposition (PICVD) and has been used in glass and plastic coatings for 15 years. The new PLASMAX will be the first device used for the PET bottle coating process. A pulse called "COLD" plasma is used to accumulate an ultra-thin glass barrier layer of SiOx and evenly coat the inner wall of the bottle, effectively improving the barrier effect. In addition, the build-up is carried out on continuous production high-performance turntables to ensure an efficient and reliable bottle transfer.

In terms of process engineering, the requirements for the equipment are high. With the unique process control of the PET bottle coating and the monitoring of a three-stage protection method, high stability and safe handling of the process are ensured. The highly flexible system allows for an adjustable blocker for individual application software.

In the current phase, SIG Corpoplast Corp. will establish new industry standards for new plasma coating equipment for PET bottles that handle sensitive beverages and beer, as well as maintain a high quality such as capacity Smaller carbonated beverage bottles.

The quality of the barrier is very good. Since the special adhesive layer is applied at the beginning of the coating cycle, there is a good bond between the barrier layer and the inner wall of the bottle. Even if the bottle geometry is very complicated, pulsed plasma can effectively and uniformly coat the SiOx barrier layer on the bottle wall. Therefore, this process achieves a very good Barrier Layer Improvement Factor (BIF) compared to uncoated bottles. Due to the firm adhesion, the advantages of the bottle wall when applied to the load and the expansion (eg creep) are better reflected.

In the BLOMAX stretch blow molding process, the plasma build-up process is carried out with the bottle mouth down and the bottom of the bottle upside down (bottle inversion) so as to avoid contamination of the bottles or contamination of the filled products due to loose particles .

According to the design, the first series of equipment yields 10,000 bottles per hour. Therefore, in terms of output, it can be used in conjunction with most aseptic filling machines in direct online operations.

PICVD also offers further advantages in process flow. The pulsed chemical vapor deposition process, which is unique to the PET bottle plasma deposition process, increases process flexibility and allows the barrier layer to be more tailored to the customer's specific needs.

Since the gas by-products in the reaction can be pumped off during the process, and new desulfurization gas can be added during the pulse pause, the plasma pulse can optimize the use of post-reaction gas delivery. The coating formed by this method is characterized by excellent uniformity and high purity.

Moreover, due to plasma non-continuous combustion, this can significantly reduce the overall heat load of PET bottles.

Source: China Plastic Rubber