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.

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Ron Crews — Leave a comment

How to Learn About Your Packaging Equipment

When you want to improve your company’s packaging systems, you need a packaging equipment company that can not only supply you with refurbished equipment, but that can also help you properly use it. In the process of searching for and purchasing replacement packaging equipment, you shouldn’t be expected to know everything about the industry from the start. So, who can train you?

Get the Most Out of Your Used Packaging Machines

Good packaging equipment companies can make sure that you fully understand what it is you’re using. When you purchase new or used machines, you run the risk of spending more money on equipment and decreasing productivity if you don’t know how to effectively work with them. Operators should have access to the right professional training, and in some cases, they can receive it from the same company that refurbishes their equipment.

Never Feel Unsure

If there’s something wrong with your equipment, you may not be entirely sure what the issue is, which is why you should work with an equipment provider with the expertise to handle customer questions. If you’re not sure about what’s involved in the operation and maintenance of your used packaging machines, you can wind up disrupting your company’s operations in a way that costs both money and time.

Get in Touch with a Person

Every time you purchase new or used packaging machines, the packaging equipment company you work with should offer personalized service. This may include providing the expertise of knowledgeable staff members, who can help you determine the efficiency of your line and point out any areas that could use improvement. Any aspects of packaging that can be improved upon should be given the attention they need, maximizing the efficiency of your operations. To get full service for your packaging systems, talk with a packaging equipment company that provides not just machinery, but also industry knowledge.