Tag: Product Packaging Equipment Parts

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8 Ways to Prevent Dust Buildup in Packaging Systems

8 Ways to Eliminate Dust in Packaging Systems

Dust and other types of particulate can potentially cause a problem for packaging machines. Products such as protein powders, flour, dry snacks, or ground coffee can generate dust in packaging environments.

You’re most likely to encounter dust when powdered or dry product passes through certain transfer points throughout the packaging system. Any time the product is in motion or starts and stops suddenly, the process may generate dust.

Here are eight innovative features in modern packaging machines that can help prevent or eliminate dust buildup.

1. Enclosed Jaw Drives

If your packaging machines operate in a dusty environment or work with a dusty product, it’s necessary for the components of the sealing jaws to remain protected from particulates.

Packaging machines designed for wet or dusty environments will typically have a completely enclosed jaw drive to keep particulate from building up on the parts.

2. Dust-Proof Enclosures

Enclosures that contain electrical or pneumatic components need to have sufficient protection against dust buildup to function properly. When buying packaging machines for a dusty environment, you should make sure the equipment has an Ingress Protection (IP) Rating that’s intended for your application. An IP Rating is made of two numbers that indicate how dust- and water-tight an enclosure is.

For dust protection, you should get packaging machinery with an IP Rating of 50 or higher. If you need dust-tight enclosures choose machinery with an IP Rating of 60 or higher.

3. Dust Removal Machines

Dust buildup isn’t the only thing you should worry about. Dust can also get into package seams, which can cause inadequate uniformity during the heat seal process that can result in lost product. To avoid this, you can set up dust removal equipment at multiple points throughout a facility to recirculate dust and expel it from the environment.

4. Static Elimination Bars

When plastic packaging film is unwound and fed through the packaging machinery, it can generate static electricity, which in turn causes dust and other particulates to stick to the inside of the film. This can cause product to appear in the package seals, which can compromise the integrity of the package. A static elimination bar can help further avoid these complications.

5. Dust Hoods

Automatic pouch filling machines can benefit from a dust hood placed over the product dispensing station. This can help to collect and remove particulates as the product drops from the filter into the bag.

6. Vacuum Pull Belts

Friction pull belts are standard for vertical form fill and seal machines. They are responsible for pulling the packaging film through the system using friction. However, if the environment is dusty, particulates can get between the film and the friction pull belts, resulting in poor performance and wearing them down over time.

On the other hand, vacuum pull belts use vacuum suction instead of friction, which effectively eliminates the concern over dust buildup. They may be more expensive than friction pull belts, but they’re likely to last much longer and result in less of a risk for production lines.

7. Continuous Motion Packaging

Packaging equipment can function in either intermittent or continuous motion. Continuous motion is more ideal in dusty environments because of the downward airflow that keeps the product-generated dust inside the packaging.

8. Regular Preventative Maintenance

In addition to dust controlling measures, regular preventative maintenance is another great way to further eliminate dust from packaging systems. This includes cleaning and inspecting components for residue or dust.

All of these can help you combat dust in work environments, keeping products and equipment protected.

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How to Properly Seal Products with Packaging Machines

How to Effectively Seal Products with Automated Packaging Machinery

Packages with insufficient seals can compromise your product and subsequently hurt your company. Inadequate sealing can result in higher costs for machine reworking, recalibration, scrap, and spill cleanup. For perishables such as food items, a bag without a proper seal can result in shorter shelf life, poor product quality, risk of contamination, and messes for consumers.

Forming Adequate Seals with Heat Sealing

Most versatile packaging machines create seals using heat seal jaws or bars. When heated, these parts close over the portion of the package where the seal will be, causing the sealant layers to melt and fuse together. However, certain factors can result in faulty seals.

Here are some of the preventable issues.

Poor Sealing Jaw Construction and Uniformity

One issue that could happen has to do with poor uniformity. The strength of a packaging seal must be uniform to properly protect the packaged product. Sealing jaws can only create the perfect seal if they operate with consistent force and temperature across the entire sealing area. To make sure your seals are uniform, choose a packaging machine with sealing jaws that have been forged from a single piece of metal. This can help avoid temperature and pressure fluctuations, resulting in a strong seal.

The problem with sealing jaws made with more than one piece of metal is that they can create inconsistent seals because of fluctuating pressure and temperatures.

Misaligned Sealing Jaws

If package seals are weak on one side but strong on the other, this likely indicates that your jaws are poorly aligned. Oftentimes packaging machine technicians and operators will move the jaws into alignment using a small piece of metal. However, this isn’t the safest method.

You’re better off following a preventative maintenance plan that checks for misalignment at various points throughout the machine’s lifespan, such as:

  • Prior to startup
  • Following a material jam
  • Following changeovers
  • Following recent maintenance or upgrades

Dust & Debris in the Seal Area

When product is present in the bag seam throughout the heat sealing process, the areas where the product is present won’t adhere properly. This can have a negative impact on seal integrity, resulting in risk of leaking and contamination. To prevent dust from gathering on the seal area, you should clean it periodically.

Perform Preventative Maintenance

Packaging machine technicians or operators should clean and inspect sealing jaws on a daily basis as part of a complete preventative maintenance plan. This can help ensure that dust and other particulate won’t build up on the sealing bars. This can also help make sure that any small issues with sealing jaw alignment or function are identified and addressed before they can become a major problem.

Impulse Sealing

Rather than heat sealing, another sealing method to consider is impulse sealing. Unlike heat seal jaws that require consistent electricity and heat, impulse sealing bands only need electrical energy, creating heat solely during the heating phase of the sealing cycle. These bands heat up and cool down within a few hundred milliseconds to a few seconds at most. This gives the package seal time to cool prior to being released from the sealing mechanism.

By avoiding the aforementioned issues and implementing preventative maintenance measures and cleaning, you can keep your packaging machines working the way they should.

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Important Product Packaging Equipment Parts

Your packaging equipment operators should be well-versed in the machines with which they work, because if a part fails, they may need to be able to identify and replace it. There are many different mechanical aspects to an efficient packaging system, and replacing the occasional part extends the overall life of your machine. From used sealing bars to forming tubes, there are a wide variety of parts inside every machine that the right packaging equipment services provider can help you replace.

Check Your Sealing Bars

The one element of a packaging system that keeps all of your products perfectly airtight is the sealing bar. When any new or used sealing bar isn’t working the way it should, it decreases company productivity and can potentially damage products. Sealing bars should work as well as the rest of your packaging equipment, which is why you may consider enlisting a packaging equipment services provider to help you check for weak product sealing and other costly system malfunctions.

Maintain All Forming Tubes

Yet another crucial part in your packaging systems is the forming tube. Forming tubes are responsible for ensuring the proper containment and distribution of particularly loose product. Just as with any other area of your packaging system, you should address problems with forming tubes immediately to prevent product loss and other issues with other equipment. Packaging equipment services can make sure that functioning replacement forming tubes are installed, using the top brands in the industry.

These are simply a few of the many packaging system parts that an industry authority can help you maintain. Because there are so many codependent mechanical processes at work in your production lines, it’s critical to know where to look for any inadequacies as soon as you suspect a problem. The right packaging equipment companies can provide maintenance checks for your machinery, helping your company to be as efficient as possible.

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