A squeezable tube for holding and dispensing cosmetics and personal care products would seem to be a pretty basic, simple type of packaging, and, certainly, there are many such tubes that provide good, solid performance in the cosmetics and personal care market.

But the same constant research and development that goes into developing new and better formulas, is also going into the creation of new and better squeezable packaging.

For ease of handling and storing tubes, Tubed Products Inc. (TPI), Easthampton, MA, developed Hangtastic, a pressure sensitive label and hanger in one construction that is applied to the tube. Traditionally, the only way tubes could be hung was by extending the sealed end and punching out a hole. According to TPI, Hangtastic makes it possible to hang a product without changing the filling process or incurring expensive tooling and maintenance. The innovation was developed to withstand shower conditions.

This fall, TPI has introduced a special printing technique that enables the company to create a plastic tube the look of metal or wood grain. The company’s center dispenser closure in a gloss or matte finish provides a complementary finishing touch for the metallic-look tube. The wood grain-look tubes are capped with a Seaquist 1-1/2-inch flip-top closure.

Amcor-Twinpak, based in Quebec, Canada, has linked an eight-color press with a tube extrusion line so that tubes can be extruded and then moved directly to the printing process, according to Jennifer Hackette, sales and marketing for Amcor. Ms. Hackette said the company also has the only five-color screen printer in North America, enabling the company to decorate natural (transparent) and translucent tubes that are not suitable for offset process.

For the children’s market, Amcor offers a closure with glitter embedded in the cap and other visual effects including holographs that appeal to tweens and teens. In terms of closures, Amcor has developed a stand up closure for a needlenose tube, so that it can be placed on its head for easy dispensing.

“Safety is a big issue,” Ms. Hackette said. “Amcor now offers a tamper-evident seal over the orifice—a foil pull-off tab.”

Innovations at Cebal Americas, based in Norwalk, CT, are about creating tubes that perform a particular function better or fill a new niche. The company’s recent innovations include a new lip applicator with a special head style that resembles a lipstick and is suited to lip glosses and treatments, according to Bertrand M. Daru, marketing manager for Cebal. He said, “It has already been a success in Europe and we’ve had lots of positive feedback (in the U.S. market).” The tubes can be 2 1/2 inches to 5 inches long and hold 10-to 20ml of product.

Cebal’s new Tandem is an oval tube with a two-color snap cap. Both colors of the cap are created at the same time in a bi-injection molding process, that also forms the hinge. Its oval shape makes Tandem appropriate for travel products as the shape minimizes needed space, according to Mr. Daru. The oval shape also increases the surface area of the tube by 15%, allowing more room for labels.

For sensitive formulations, Cebal is currently launching airbackless tubes designed so that no air is drawn back into the tube when the product is dispensed. Mr. Daru noted that an insert will be used that is visible to the end consumer so that she/he will know that the tube is unique. Because there is no “suckback,” or possible contamination from air being pulled into the tube, the amount of preservatives in formulations can be minimized, according to Mr. Daru.

Cebal has also developed dual chamber tubes for products with ingredients that are best kept separate until they are dispensed. Airless Systems is a joint venture between Valois and Tech Pack that was created in 2000. Airless is offering two types of airless pumps. One is built around a piston that rises with each pump depression; the other method features an aluminum pouch system inside a container which collapses as the product is used due to a vacuum created by the pump.

Airless will launch Orion, a larger capacity airless system, in the first quarter of 2002, which will use a plastic pouch within a container for products like sunscreen.

When it comes to filling such high-tech tubes, IWKA PacSystems, based in Fairfield, NJ, has come up with a system that can handle partition tubes or tubes within tubes that hold two different ingredients to be combined only upon dispensing. According to Rusty Spraling, director of the company, such tubes require two different filling stations. The company’s new TFS 80 tubefiller is fitted with precision servo-drives and features a rapid changeover.

Mr. Spraling explained that the TFS-80 employs a diagonal racetrack technology in which the tubes enter the filler in a horizontal position, are shifted to the vertical for filling and then move back to horizontal for easier handling and loading into cartons. “The TFS-80-6 can fill and carton as many as 500 tubes a minute,” he stated.