Magic develops clean-room blow molder to meet pandemic needs
Italy’s Magic MP SpA has introduced an all-electric blow molding machine suitable for use in clean rooms that meets the needs of customers producing containers for disinfectants and other Covid-19-related products.
The new Model ME T18-D has been sold to two U.S. customers, one of which is making disinfectant bottles, said Pietro Spiga, North America area manager for Magic. That machine is used in a non-clean room setting and is making 1.8-liter and smaller round bottles.
The second machine, which manufactures containers for medical use, is in a clean room, the company said. Magic could not provide details about those containers.
Demand for the machine arose because of the Covid-19 pandemic, Spiga said.
The Model ME T18-D, introduced during the first pandemic wave, was configured to satisfy global standards for clean room use. It can produce more than 3,600 containers per hour — at least 21 million bottles per year from one machine, Spiga said.
The ME T18-D’s benefits also include a compact footprint (16.7 feet by 19 feet), high output, cycles with microsecond repeatability and versatility for production changes.
The double-station machine features 12 cavities, a 2.8-foot carriage stroke and a clamping force of 19.8 tons.
The Model ME T18-D is ideal for clean room use because it is all-electric and has no oil that could contaminate a clean room, Spiga said.
“Our all-electric technology was developed since the beginning for clean-room [use],” Spiga said. “Our first all-electric machine manufactured in 1997 was dedicated for pharmaceutical products.”
He added that the company's 54 configurations of all-electric machines cover all the needs of the blow molding industry, not just clean room applications.
In addition to the ME T18-D, Magic manufactures machines with from one to 24 parison heads in single- and double-station configurations. Clamping forces range from 3 tons to 66 tons and clamp strokes range from 7 inches to 5.2 feet.
“We believe that every machine must be compact to take up as little space as possible,” Spiga said. “We can combine clamp stroke, clamp tonnage, extruder size and head cavitation to define the best machine for the customer’s specific need,” Spiga said.
Magic North America, Whitmore Lake, Mich., 734-358-7722, www.magicnorthamerica.com
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Bruce Geiselman
Senior Staff Reporter Bruce Geiselman covers extrusion, blow molding, additive manufacturing, automation and end markets including automotive and packaging. He also writes features, including In Other Words and Problem Solved, for Plastics Machinery & Manufacturing, Plastics Recycling and The Journal of Blow Molding. He has extensive experience in daily and magazine journalism.