This year's FACHPACK in Nuremberg (Germany) from 24 to 26 September 2019 showed that the keyword sustainability is becoming increasingly important in the packaging industry, also with regard to the new packaging law.
The aim is not only to save material or use recyclable films, but the packaging processes must also be optimized. The use of ultrasonic technology more than anything else is ideal for sealing packaging. Thanks to the short cycle times and the use of cold tools, the energy consumed for ultrasonic welding is up to 80 percent less, depending on application, compared with thermal methods. Moreover, the innovative technology also enables even monofilms, such as recyclable mono-PE, to be reliably and tightly sealed, without damaging the film or visually impairing the seam. Using ultrasound also reduces production waste, because product adhesions in the sealing area are simply “shaken off” owing to the action of ultrasound. The weld itself is much smaller – for one pack this may be only a few millimeters, but when producing 80 bags per minute, for example, the result is a considerable saving of material at the end of the day.
Ultrasonic is also suitable for continuous sealing processes as found, for example, in fin seals in horizontal and vertical tubular bag machines (vertical form, fill and seal machines), where classical thermal processes reach their limits. In the ultrasonic process, the roll seam tools mounted on one side are not heated, but rather made to oscillate at a frequency of 35 kHz. The film heats up as a result of the surface friction in the sealing area, caused by the 35,000 oscillations per second, and the pack contents are thus not impaired by heat. The ERM ultrasonic roll seam module from SONOTRONIC has no interfering contours, meaning that the roll seam sonotrode mounted on one side, can be fitted directly underneath the filled bag. The interest in the technology was outstanding at FACHPACK. SONOTRONIC has many years of experience in the field of continuous ultrasonic sealing and has been successfully using the ERM on the market since 2011.
Our new digital ultrasonic generator USG iSONIC was also presented as a trade fair highlight. It offers faster signal processing and precise process control and attracted a great deal of attention, especially among those interested in pouches, cross-seam seals (VFFS) and cardboard packaging.
