NTN TRIMMER-COMBINER, a post blow-molding mono-block solution for trimming and handling neck-to-neck drinkable yoghurt bottles:

“Single-serve” drinkable probiotic yoghurt is currently one of the greatest growth products in the dairy product segment. This format comes in small size bottles (from 80 ml to 200 ml), manufactured mainly in high-density polyethylene (HDPE) with “tandem blow neck to neck” extrusion blow moulding technology.

One of the advantages of N2N technology is that 2 bottles joined at the neck in each mould cavity can be blow moulded instead of just one, which means that the hourly production rate for this mass consumer product can be doubled.

The key to success in obtaining quality bottles with this manufacturing technique –particularly at high-production rates– lies in efficient processing and handling of “tandem” bottles throughout the post-blow moulding process. This phase should be performed properly with the bottles handled horizontally as they are unstable because they are joined at the neck and because of their height and reduced bottle diameter.

MAER SA, specialized in bottle-trimming machinery, has therefore launched its NTN TRIMMER-COMBINER mono-block system for totally reliable trimming, handling and transporting high productions of tandem neck-to-neck manufactured bottles.

After the logs spin trimmer, Maer technology currently on the market, the bottles, which have been separated, are transferred from a B.T.U. (bottle transfer unit) to an Up-Righter system, which takes the 2 bottles positioned horizontally and sets them in a vertical position. The two bottles are thereupon deposited on a conventional 2-lane conveyor belt.

A Combiner unit placed downstream from the mono-block aligns and merges the flow of bottles in a single row towards a conventional conveyor and feeds the immediately subsequent process in the production chain, be it leak testing, palletising, labelling or direct filling.

Features of the NTN TRIMMER-COMBINER system:

• Highly-efficient continuous production system with no line stops.
• It occupies little space for large production volumes (up to 60,000 bottles per hour).
• Trimming and finishing of quality bottles.
• Smooth handling and processing of bottles throughout the process.
• Easy to operate and minimum maintenance.
• Flexibility and fast format change over.
• Simple to integrate and suitable for working with both continuous blow moulding (rotary/wheel) and linear (intermittent/reciprocating screw) technologies.

As a complement to the NTN TRIMMER-COMBINER system, Maer optionally supplies: 1) the horizontal conveyor for the transport of bottles from the blow moulder to the trimmer – 2) the bottle leak tester unit synchronised with the bottle combiner unit.