Glass polymer ups packaging possibilities
called Just Cavalli. Part of the the Roberto Cavalli fragrance
line, it uses glass polymer packaging from Eastman Chemical to help
produce a bottle that uses three different materials.
The transparent bottle is made up from different fully integrated parts: a glass core, a resin shoulder and a protective housing made from Eastar AN014 copolyester. The manufacturers say it was designed to combine an apparently minimal design, while containing a high technological content and complexity.
Carlo Candiani, spokemans for G Candiani, explained: "When it came to material choice, the customer allowed us total freedom. Key requirement wasthat we would achieve excellent aesthetical qualities: first of all transparency -together with good mechanical resistance and elasticity. Furthermore it was necessaryfor the material to be chemically compatible with the perfume itself. Eastman's GlassPolymer offered all these characteristics."
Candiani went on to explain that the bottle was crafted from glass, a special resin used for the bottle's shoulder and a glass polymer from Eastman Chemicals, which is used for the external housing to snap the other material together.
"The Just Cavalli perfume bottle is a complex object, consisting of three differentmaterials: glass, a special resin used for the bottle shoulder and the Glass Polymer,which is used for the external housing to be snapped onto the other materials," Candiani added. "The major concern was to identify a suitable material that could perform well with both glass and the other resin. A material with good mechanical properties, but also with good elasticity, as the glass tolerances can be pretty varied, with differences of more than 1.5 mm."
Because of the required production rate and quantities (40.0000 pieces/week) theCandiani Company decided to run a detailed pre-study. Carlo Candiani explained what this entailed, "We produced an 8-cavity mould of approximately 600 x 600 mm with a traditional distribution runner. In order to prevent snap-in assembly problems with glass and the special resin, we first optimised the size through resins stereo-prototyping models. Thankfully our Company has both the technology and the required tools for this inhouse. Next, we created a pilot mould with a single cavity. Once start-up productionissues had been solved, parts could be produced by injection-moulding."
Eastman Glass Polymer was developed specifically for the cosmetics and perfumesectors. It is a high flow product that contains a mold release and it offers excellentappearance and clarity, good physical properties, chemical resistance, and easyprocessing. With US FDA approval, the Glass Polymer may also be used in foodcontact applications as it complies with the specifications and conditions of use inCFR 177.1240.
