Packaging with tinplate caused a new revolution in packaging industry

A large amount of tinplate produced internationally is used to make packaging containers, thus posing a special need. The original production of tinplate did not consider the special requirements of packaging container manufacturing, just ordinary tinplate, so it is not suitable for the production of packaging supplies.

In the development and production of tinplate for packaging, Europe takes the lead in the world. French steel group is the largest steel enterprise in Europe, its quality and output are no less than Japan, and the improvement of production technology and varieties is even worse than Japan. In recent years, The French iron and steel company first developed packaging tinplate and put it into the market, causing a revolution in packaging industry.

Making tinplate for packaging containers is a developing direction of iron and steel industry. The packaging tinplate developed by The French company in recent years has been put into use in Europe and has a popular trend. The main types of products are tinplate for three cans, tinplate for spray cans and cosmetics cans, tinplate for closed caps and crown caps, tinplate for paint and chemical products containers, tinplate for two cans, tinplate for special packaging and so on.

Most of the tinplate used in Our country has no distinction of use, and there are often unstable quality and some difficult problems in the manufacture of packaging containers. If special tinplate can be used, the problem of quality affected by materials will be solved. In fact, domestic packaging container product quality problems, waste defective products are largely related to the material. The use of special tinplate in European countries just shows this point.

The particularity of tinplate used for packaging

Mr. Giraldo, who is engaged in the research of tinplate for packaging in France, came to China not long ago. After understanding the current situation of China's can enterprises, he believed that ordinary tinplate for packaging should not be used any more, otherwise, it will not only waste amazing, but also difficult to obtain profits.

According to the different requirements of packaging industry, the thickness, tin plating amount and mechanical properties of tinplate materials have different needs. At present, the thickness of the material used to make the three-piece tank in Europe is δ0.13~ 0.2 mm. The research and application of this material in France has achieved the greatest success, which not only saves steel, reduces the cost, but also does not reduce all aspects of the product requirements (such as mechanical strength, etc.).

At present, the development trend of packaging tinplate: (1) reduce the thickness of the material; (2) Improve the mechanical properties of materials. The most important index of packaging tinplate is the plastic deformation index and welding performance index. Generally speaking,T610 is used to make beverage cans,T6T67 is used to make food cans, the bottom and cover of cans are also made of special steel, can material 520 and 580, this material is easy to weld.

Japanese tinplate welding performance is not ideal, experts found that Japanese tinplate in order to meet users like the high brightness of the material surface psychology, in the material after a large number of grinding tin. This is just a kind of unscientific adornment product, to the welding of canning industry is extremely unsatisfactory however, welding intensity is low, reject rate is high. In fact, for users, this is a pyrrhic gain. In order to meet the different needs of tinplate for packaging, France uses electrolysis method for tin plating, not only uniform coating, firm, and achieve different thickness of the coating. Generally speaking, tin can be used, tin plating layer is thicker than the tank, the tank is 2.811.2g /m2, the tank is 2.8-5.6 g/m2. Soldering cannot be done if the tin plating thickness exceeds 15.6g/m2(both sides) because of the high rejection rate. Therefore, the thinner the tin plating layer, the better the welding effect. Because tin is so expensive, people now prefer to paint the surface.

Now, the tinplate produced in France, 80% of the material tin plating for 1g/m2, 2G /m2, 2.8g/m2, 5.6g/m2, only 20% of the material tin plating more than 5.6g/m2, used for special purposes. According to the amount of tin plating, the material can be divided into three types:

(1)300# tin plating is thin.

(2) 311# tin plating is generally used for manufacturing can products.

(3)312# tin plating thickness, special use.

Application of tinplate for packaging

Different kinds of packaging containers should be made of materials with different properties. For example, spray cans are made of T61 tin with a thickness of δ0.18~δ0.12 mm; The top cover is tinplate of δ0.30-δ 0.35mm thick, with mechanical properties T52~T55; The tank bottom was annealed twice with tinplate of δ0.30~δ0.31 mm, T65. At present, tinplate thick δ0.14~δ0.17 mm can be used to make food cans. In Europe, tinplate thick δO.11~δ0.13 mm has been used. The lightness of packaging can reduce the cost. Take food cans for example, in 1974, Europe used more thick O.24 mm T59 tinplate, to 1994, are using 0.14 mm THICK DR580~620 tinplate, this is the direction of development.

As can be seen from the following table, the development direction of tinplate is thinner and higher mechanical properties:

Thickness (mm) Mechanical properties

0.25 T59

0.23 T59

0.21 ~ 0.22 T65

0.2 DR550

Look by the statistics of the case of Each European country, as a result of reducing material thickness, the enterprise can obtain 20% of earnings, much higher than the price of the tank dropped 3%~4% of earnings, and relatively easy. At present, French tinplate products occupy 40% of the European market, and is growing at the rate of 8%, its main reason, is to develop special materials for different uses.

In Europe, some can enterprises have begun to produce tinplate two cans, and the equipment has not changed too much, still use the production equipment of aluminum two cans. Using steel instead of aluminum can reduce the cost by 15%~18% and increase the mechanical strength by more than 60%. The properties of steel now exceed not only aluminum, but also the needs of food packaging. Germany is currently making two cans out of 0.22mm thick steel instead of aluminium. Replacing aluminum with steel is the developing direction of two-plate tank.

Basic characteristics of tinplate for various purposes

1. Tinplate for beverage cans

In recent years, Europe produces tens of billions of beverage cans every year with tinplate produced by itself. The characteristics of tinplate used for beverage cans are:

(1) Higher purity, no impurities, more corrosion resistance;

(2) Drawing width up to 1200mm;

(3) the shape is very positive and the size error is small;

(4) Continuous annealing, good toughness.

At present, Europe is still continuing to carry out further research and cooperation with other counterparts in the world, its technology has achieved unprecedented development, while ensuring good performance of tinplate, greatly reducing its thickness. The tinplate has superior mechanical properties and plasticity.

2, tinplate for food cans

At present, the series of tinplate produced in Europe can be used to produce a variety of different types and shapes of food cans. These tinplate mainly include:

(1) Continuous coated tinplate for DRD coating tank bottom;

(2) easy to open the lid with tinplate;

(3) Tinplate for stretching tank. The tin used to produce ultra-thin cans and crown LIDS makes opening bottles very safe and reliable.

3. Tinplate for spray cans and cosmetics cans

Tinplate used for packaging is suitable for manufacturing high pressure spray cans, which conform to international standards and are harmless to the environment.

Tinplate for coating and chemical product containers

Due to the excellent impact resistance and flame retardant properties of tinplate used for packaging, the manufacture of these packaging containers is in full compliance with the international regulations on the transport and storage of toxic substances. Used to package coatings and paints, manufacturers can save a lot on insurance costs.

5. Tinplate for special purpose packaging

Matri iron used for packaging production has high printability and is most suitable for printing containers of various shapes.