Bottle-to-Tube
Make your own tubes with your existing ISBM equipment using our Bottle-to-Tube technology!
Our new, patented Bottle-to-Tube technology enables you to transform blow moulded bottles into squeeze tubes made of PET instead of the traditional PP.
The standout feature of the new tube is that it is made by injection stretch-blow moulding (ISBM) on single-step Nissei ASB machines, rather than extrusion.
The usual multistep process involves coextrusion or laminating to make a cylinder, which is cut off and fitted with an injection moulded shoulder by moulding or bonding.
With Delta Engineeringâs new process, however, oval-shaped blow moulded bottles (with a standard neck) are transformed into tubes by clipping and welding the base.
This innovation opens up a new market for blow moulding companies and their bottle filling customers, using their existing bottle equipment.
We can make PET tubes as the only one in the market today.
These new tubes offer significant advantages over traditional PP tubes, such as:
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REDUCED PACKAGING & TRANSPORT COSTS:
The new tubes can be filled just like regular bottles (using standard bottle filling lines with pucks), which allows filling to a higher level than with conventional tubes, so no extra âsplashâ safety margin is needed. This leads to 30% less plastic being used for the same volume of content compared to conventional tubes. The reduced weight leads to a reduction in material costs, transport costs and CO2!
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RECYCLABILITY:
The PET tubes can be recycled 100% in the current recycling flows, as opposed to laminated tubes.
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BARRIER:
The PET tubes can be plasma coated, which provides a 100% oxygen barrier. The entire tube can be plasma coated instead of only the cylinder. With the conventional method, there is a barrier leak in the front of the tube. Moreover, plasma coating greatly reduces the residual fraction of the product in the packaging. New packaging regulations oblige us to keep this residual fraction smaller than 50% of the empty packaging (in g). This makes the new Bottle-to-Tube technology an attractive and sustainable solution for packaging needs.
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DECORATION:
The PET tubes can be easily printed digitally in-line while still being a bottle, on standard equipment. This offers new decorating possibilities through embossing that are not possible with extruded tubes. The surface can be embossed, logos can be added, etc., leading to more luxurious end products. Individual bar codes are also possible, opening anti-counterfeiting possibilities.
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CRYSTAL CLEAR:
The PET tubes can be crystal clear, so you can clearly see the product on the inside: âWhat you see is what you getâ.
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QUALITY:
The PET tubes are welded, which means they can be leak tested as a whole (just like normal bottles) in advance. This allows you to deliver a completely tested product to your customer.
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THINNER WALLS:
As PET is much stronger than PP, which breaks easily especially at cold temperatures, you can produce PET tubes with much thinner walls while maintaining strength. The thinner PET walls are compensated by a higher density compared to PP.
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NON-ROUND SHAPES:
Whereas tubes are usually round using conventional methods, the bottle-to-tube process allows you to make tubes in other shapes as well, such as oval or square ones.
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HANDLING:
These tubes can be stored, printed, trimmed, conveyed in pucks, leak tested and packed using our standard range of machines. Delta Engineering can also provide solutions for the logistics of loading & unloading.
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ECONOMICAL WAY OF PACKING TUBES:
With conventional tubes, the filling nozzle is not allowed to touch the inside of the tube (which occurs if the tube is not perfectly round), otherwise the tube will not be welded properly if product is on the inside. For this reason, packing tubes is expensive today. With our Bottle-to-Tube technology, however, this is not as critical anymore, because the tube is already ready.