| Cevolani on CanMaker cover | ||
| Cevolani tests ultra-lightweight three-piece can bodies. Commercial production of three-piece welded cans with ultra-lightweight bodies is possible, and Italian canmaking machinery manufacturer Cevolani claims it has proved it. Using a batch of 0.10mm tinplate sheets supplied by Rasselstein in Germany, Cevolani set up a welding line at its factory near Bologna to make a run of 73 x 130mm cans of the type typically used for food products. Until now the lightest gauge used for these cans is 0.13mm to 0.14mm, so the ultra-lightweight cans offer up to a 40 percent weight saving in the body. General manager Stefano Salvadeo said: "From the tests we did on the can making line over three weeks we had no troubles, and we could also improve its performance.  "What's really important is that we can also upgrade older welding machines to take the thinner gauges reliably. We see good possibilities for commercial production of this by canmakers." The tests with the thinner tinplate were carried out in April using the very latest machines from Cevolani's range including a slitter feeding a CBW2280 welder running at up to 800 cpm. The bodies were then formed in a RBNA504 combination machine with four turrets for necking, flanging, beading and finally seaming on 0.17mm-gauge sanitary ends. "We had to make adjustments to the welder's stacking system and flexer to take the thinner gauge blanks," said Salvadeo, "and the combination machine was absolutely okay. Sales manager Vincent Argondizzo added: "We see opportunities for lighter gauges in short runs for three-piece beverage cans with triple necks in the Asian markets, and for cans that could use microseams." Rasselstein, which operates the largest single tin mill at Andernach in Germany, has been promoting the use of 0.10 mm tinplate since the beginning of 2008 as a means of mitigating the rising costs of tinplate. |
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CEVOLANI S.p.A.
Via Colunga, 18
40068 San Lazzaro di Savena
Bologna - ITALY
LOCATIONS
Phone +39.051.49.96.911
Fax +39.051.49.96.950
Via Colunga, 18
40068 San Lazzaro di Savena
Bologna - ITALY
LOCATIONS
Phone +39.051.49.96.911
Fax +39.051.49.96.950
email: sales@cevolani.eu
