Shrink wrapping machines is widely used in industrial applications for automated packaging process. Due to the need for faster and more efficient packaging methods, shrink machines have advanced to include shrink tunnel and the web sealers.
Operating Principles of Shrink Tunnel Web Sealer Packaging Machines
- Shrink wrapping machines are used extensively to form a plastic polymer film around the product being packaged. The polyolefin wrap put around the product act as a protective material. It is an easy packaging method and is widely used in many industrial packaging systems such as food, pharmaceuticals, soft drinks, agrochemicals and other numerous products.
- Traditionally, the shrink wrap machine had L bar feeders where operators would fit the plastic polymer. This manual process is currently being replaced with an automatic high speed shrink wrappers which incorporate shrink tunnel and web sealer.
- The shrink tunnel is currently incorporated in most shrink wrap machine and form an integral process of the shrink wrap process. The tunnel controls the dimensional stability of the shrink wrap enabling it to attain the right shape around the packaged product.
- The shrink tunnel is mounted on conveyor system with the plastic wrap loosely hanging on the shrink tunnel. The space between the rollers and above the shrink tunnel is heated so as to cause the shrink wrap to loosely coil around the product and seal it. Most shrink wrap incorporate different heating and cooling mechanisms to ensure that the packaging process is effective.
Processing Capacity and Capability of Shrink Tunnel Machines
- Early shrink wrap machines had manual feeds and L bar feeders. The process was slow and could only package few products per minute.
- Due to the need for increased speed, the shrink tunnel, automated conveyor systems, air and heat flow controllers and web sealers have been incorporated in most modern shrink wrap machines. These automatic feed and control enable faster packaging. Typically these machines can package 30-100 products per minute.
- All the systems are automated and carefully controlled using computers and PLCs. The systems heats and cools the shrink wrap while the conveyor system moves the products and packaging along the system. The product is finally sealed using the web sealer.
- The dimensions of the package, weight, heating and cooling time, sealing length can be adjusted to suit particular application. Most machines have a maximum limit on these parameters depending on the size and control in the machine.
Why Incorporate the Web Sealer on Shrink Tunnel Machines
- Incorporating the web sealer fully automates the packaging process ensuring that the product and wrap paper are fed into the machine, forms the shrink wrap and then seals it. The shrink wrap with the web sealer performs the function of shrinking and wrapping the product.
- These machines are widely used in automated packaging processes where faster packaging is required.
Conclusions
Shrink tunnel with web sealer packaging machines are becoming increasing important in automated packaging process. The machine effectively forms the shrink wrap and seals it. This increases the processing speed and the quality of the packaging material.
This article is written by Arjun Rao – CEO of Multi Pack Machinery Company.