High-speed, small cavity Contiform SK blow-molder for South Eastern Container

Orlando, Florida, is home to one of South Eastern Container’s seven U.S. plants. The PET converter, the largest U.S. manufacturer of PET bottles for Coca-Cola, produces all of the cola leader’s preforms and bottles. Production speed and bottle control are paramount. South Eastern set its first speed record in 2003 when it purchased 40-station Contiform SKs, air conveyors and palletizers from Krones for its Orlando and New York plants. The SK 40 blow-molders were the first machines on the market to hit output levels of 60,000 0.5 -1 liter bottles per hour. South Eastern recently added the first Contiform SK small-cavity blow-molder to its Krones equipment line-up.

• Contiform SK
  The new system retains Krones’ high-speed world record, running at 45,000 to 60,000 containers per hour. With the small cavity system for smaller bottles, South Eastern enjoys maximum output with a minimum machine footprint. When Krones developed its record-setting blow-molders they eliminated the need for bottles to be turned. Bottles are kept on the same level throughout the blow-molding process. Preforms are fed through a roller-sorter into a heating module with suspended IR lamps. The blowing wheel and blow-molding stations are fitted with lightweight mold carriers with short opening and closing ratios. A twin-track machine discharge transports the bottles on nine tracks up to the AirCo air conveyors.
  
• Robot 2A
  The 2A Linear robot takes over from there, palletizing and depalletizing freshly molded PET bottles of all shapes and sizes, depositing them in an upright position. The 2A robot moves on both a horizontal and a vertical axis to cover a predefined work area.