Davis-Standard: New coextrusion die design
A leading supplier of protective and point-of-sale flexible packaging for the food and industrial markets, needed a new coextrusion die design to increase its competitive advantage in the high quality blown film market. Amcor selected Davis-Standard’s ProPak die technology. Davis-Standard designed a unique 400 mm ProPak die system to meet the customer’s requirements and Amcor has proved to be impressed with the performance, versatility, fast purge times and simplified maintenance of the system. The larger ProPak design provides quality and uniformity, which is vital for a company such as Amcor as they measure EVOH thickness uniformity under a microscope. The ProPak can produce films with critical layers at a 4% variation without the use of an auto gauging system. The die also features a large IBC (internal bubble cooling) access hole that pumps increased volumes of air through the die into the bubble, making it possible to attain outputs of 400 to 500 kg per hour. Davis-Standard’s WesJet air ring optimises bubble stability. The die’s spiral channel design allows for excellent distribution of a wide range of materials and the quicker purge feature makes it possible to produce more products economically. The purge time is attributed to the side-fed coathanger pre-distribution system that eliminates complications from radial feedholes and binary divider networks. Amcor also recently purchased a seven-layer ProPak die for its pilot extrusion facility in Gent, Belgium and will use the die as an advanced multi-functional tool to develop specially designed film combinations for customers.