New JetPlates for Curved Conveyors

Since their official product launch at Munich’s Drinktec Expo in 2005, ACI’s JetPlates have proven to be a highly successful method of drying bottles of all different shapes and sizes prior to labelling processes.  They remain a unique solution to the Global Food and Beverage Industries that fully maximise blower-driven air for successful product drying.

Up until now however, JetPlates have required a straight section of conveyor to be successfully installed, but this hasn’t always been possible due to customer’s conveyor space availability.

So, for the past few weeks ACI’s product design team has been investigating various ideas into how they could modify the JetPlate design to fit curved sections of conveyors.  One of ACI’s Design Engineers, Mat Ayres, explains further:

“A client had approached them desperately looking for a method of drying plastic water bottles prior to labelling. However, the only available space for a drying system on their conveyor line was situated on a bend.”

“In an attempt to solve this issue, we initially replicated the client’s line in our own laboratory facility and developed a design based on the external radius of the client’s conveyor. We then adapted our typical JetPlate and slot design so that it could be manufactured from a material that would form around the curve, keep the bottles central between the inside and outside JetPlates and still remove water effectively.”

”The results of our research mean that ACI can now confidently offer clients an effective bottle drying solution for pretty much any position on the line.”