Closures | Husky Technologies

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Sustainability

Husky’s closure applications can improve the sustainability of your package through:

Material Light-Weighting
Migration to a new Neck Finish
Use of Alternative Materials
Tethering

Material Light-Weighting

The Light-Weighting topic is straight-forward. Remove as much resin from specific closure features without negatively impacting performance or the user experience. A lower part weight lowers the raw material cost per piece and can enhance manufacturing productivity.

Simulation tools are used to predict how much material can be removed from each feature without negatively impacting performance/usability.

Migration to a new Neck Finish

The introduction of new industry standard neck finishes can offer higher levels of performance at a lighter weight. The chart below highlights industry standard CSD neck finishes. The recently introduced GME30.40 neck finish offers a higher level of performance without compromising the user experience. Similar weight savings can be achieved in the Water, Juice, Sport Drink, and Tea markets.

The GME30.40 dispensing solution offers weight savings up to 1.78g vs the ubiquitous PCO1881 dispensing system finish.

Use of Alternative Materials

Increasing the use of PCR content is another means to support the improved sustainability of your closure design. The current challenge with this approach is the lack of availability of food grade PCR material. Closed loop recovery systems whereby the closures can be mechanically recycled within the same facility and reintroduced into the molding system is another way to improve the sustainability efforts.

Husky is also exploring the use of PET as a potential alternative resin for closure manufacture. While HDPE and PP are proven and fully recyclable materials for closures, there are some obvious benefits to using a single material for bottle and closures:

Simplify the separation efforts at the recycling stage (bottle + closure are of the same material)
Increase the quality/yield of the PET bales
Increase the availability of rPET
Unlock new possibilities for package differentiation

A PET closure concept study. This product is not yet commercialized.

Some resin manufacturers are offering other sustainable choices like certified ocean bound material. This is PCR material that has been collected form the environment that was destined for the oceans. The appropriate remediation activities have been performed on this material to make it food grade approved.

Stand-out

A critical goal of any brand is to maximize the differentiation/appeal of their package on the store shelf. The closure is a key element of promoting shelf stand-out. Husky closures promote shelf stand-out in a variety of ways, including:

Grip zone
Knurl patterns
Intuitive operation
Logo/Brand treatment

Grip Zone

A simple way to improve appeal is to increase grip zone which facilitates ease of opening. All the examples below show taller closures that fit onto the same neck finish as the shorter version. The effect is more grip zone while minimizing material used on the bottle finish. An extended grip zone will facilitate ease of opening for children/seniors.

Same neck finishes, different grip zones, marginal weight increase.

Knurl Pattern

The sky is the limit when it comes to knurl patterns. The primary purpose of the knurls is to facilitate sufficient grip when applying an opening and closing force to the closure.

Variations of the knurls produce unique sensory experiences. Considerations including knurl spacing, radius, depth and even the resin grade used will provide different consumer experiences.

A radius <0.2mm will provide a perception of the knurl being sharp thereby creating a negative consumer experience. Generally, the larger the radii, the softer the perceived feel.

Examples of different knurl pattern treatments for the 29/25 closure.

Intuitive Operation

The ultimate target for any closure manufacturer is to make the opening and closing behavior as natural and effortless as possible. Performance values like opening torque, application torque and sealing performance are especially critical. Intuitive operation is magnified when one considers tethered closure designs. With tethered designs, the intent should be to make the operation as instinctive as possible. The tethered system should almost guide the user when opening, securing, and re-applying the closure. To improve intuitiveness, our tethering designs feature shell locking capability whereby the closure can be secured in a single fluid motion. An audible click and tactile response indicate to the user that the closure has been locked into place. An innovative feature that improves the reclosing capability is Husky’s patented reclose feature. An integrated cam makes contact with the top sealing surface (TSS) enabling proper alignment of the closure with the neck finish.

Demonstration of how Husky’s patented re-closing feature works.

Logo/Brand Treatment

Closures can be decorated by either molding in brand logos or via downstream printing. Molding in the logo has the obvious benefit of being finished without any additional manufacturing steps.

Digital printing is another option to promote your brand with the added flexibility of introducing multiple colors to offer limitless possibilities for brand differentiation.

Examples of different molded in and post mold logo treatments.

Flexibility

Choosing to invest in a closure manufacturing solution requires research and a long-term commitment. While robustness and reliability are implied, the chosen manufacturing solution should offer as much flexibility as possible to accommodate future product changes.

HyCAP technology and applications have been developed to maximize flexibility and minimize conversion costs.

Applications: PCO1881 Tethered Portfolio

Different brands have different performance requirements. Performance criteria for one brand may not necessarily meet the performance criteria of another. Husky’s PCO1881 tethered portfolio has been developed to maximize flexibility while minimizing investment. The example below highlights the different tooling components required to satisfy the performance requirements of the brands that identify with blue, green and red. A single mold with a few interchangeable components is all that is required to meet each brand’s unique performance requirements.

Minimal mold components are required to satisfy the performance requirements for each brand.

Applications: 26/22 (GME30.40) CSD Portfolio

Husky’s GME30.40 family offers maximum flexibility with a low conversion cost outlay. Similar to the PCO1881 approach, one is able to switch between eight different closure options with minimal investment. The GME30.40 family includes the added capability to swap between tethered and non-tethered designs as shown below.

Flexibility between tethered & non-tethered designs for 26/22 CSD (GME30.40).

Technology: Slide Swap

HyCAP3.1 tooling offers a competitive advantage in terms of molding multiple closure designs within a single mold. The tethering features are incorporated into one half of the slide pair. By simply replacing the slide that has the tethering features, one can swap between tethered and non-tethered closure designs. This future-proofs the investment and opens new markets for the tool owner.

Swapping 1 of the slide pairs enables molding of tethered and non-tethered closure designs.

Technology: Molded-In Bridge

The free motion slide approach that is inherent within the HyCAP3.1 tooling provides almost limitless freedom when it comes to closure design. Unlike the slit-fold approach, complex geometries can be manufactured into the slide design. This provides the designer with an unconstrained design freedom when determining sophisticated tethered and/or bridge designs. A side benefit to molding with an integrated bridge approach is that once the part (closure) is ejected from the mold, it is ready for the capping line.

The Molded-In-Bridge (MIB) approach allows ultimate design freedom in terms of bridge and tethered geometry.

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Sustainable Closure Solutions

Sustainable Closure Solutions

TALK TO OUR SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS TO LEARN MORE

Sustainable Closure Solutions

Sustainable Closure Solutions

Sustainability

Material Light-Weighting

Migration to a new Neck Finish

Use of Alternative Materials

Tethered

World-Class

Stand-out

Grip Zone

Knurl Pattern

Intuitive Operation

Logo/Brand Treatment

Flexibility

Applications: PCO1881 Tethered Portfolio

Applications: 26/22 (GME30.40) CSD Portfolio

Technology: Slide Swap

Technology: Molded-In Bridge

TALK TO OUR SUBJECT MATTER EXPERTS TO LEARN MORE