A shrink sleeving company contacts Paxton to remove liquid from bottles.

THE CLIENT

Established in 2003, a manufacturer is now an industry leader in shrink sleeve applications. Engineering customized systems designed for shrink sleeve labeling, tamper evident packaging, and multi-packs, the shrink sleeve manufacturer’s modern technology is paving the way for one of the fastest growing packaging solutions in consumer goods. The shrink sleeve manufacturer primarily serves Food and Beverage, Wine, Spirits, Craft Beer, Health and Beauty Care, Automotive and Pharmaceutical industries

THE CHALLENGE

Recently, the sleeving company started working with a customer who has a food and beverage packaging operation on the East Coast. The sleeving company is designing and building a new line specifically for this application. The bottles are placed on a metal conveyor moving at 250 bottles per minute. The bottles go through the washdown process. Once complete, the bottles need to be dried in order for the sleeving process to be successful. The food manufacturer sent sample bottles to the sleeving company to test different drying methods, as the shape of the bottle is unique: the bottle has side panels with grooves that can trap water.

Ensuring that these side panels are dry is the sleeving company’s main concern, and they knew that using an off the shelf drying solution would not remove the water in these grooves. A more aggressive solution will be needed to ensure that the water is removed. The sleeving company contacted a Paxton representative, outlining the challenges and concerns with this bottle and the inefficiency of their off the shelf drying process. The Paxton representative was able to assure the Vice President at the sleeving company that Paxton could design an effective and efficient solution.

THE SOLUTION

The Paxton team determined that the bottles could be dried using two stainless-steel Air Knives and a Spyder Manifold powered by a 20 hp PX-2000 centrifugal blower. To protect the blower, it was placed in a washdown enclosure. Then, the Spyder Manifold was configured on top of the conveyor, and the air knives placed on the sides of the conveyor. The Spyder Manifold targets the cap and neck of the bottles and the Air Knives target the water trapped in the grooves on the body of the bottle. Because Paxton application engineers have extensive experience in air flow technology, they were able to precisely analyze the best placement for each air delivery device for this specific application.