The Dresden-based company Theegarten-Pactec has now developed a special process to optimise the packaging of sensitive chocolate products. Suction sealing not only allows chocolate products to be packaged more gently, but also saves material and makes processes more stable.
The sealing station developed by Theegarten-Pactec is positioned directly after the actual wrapping or packaging process. As soon as a product has reached the sealing station, the sealing tool is moved to the product to be sealed at a distance of 0.5 mm to 1 mm and the packaging is sucked onto the sealing stamp with the aid of negative pressure. In this way no direct contact between packaging and product during the sealing process. The heat required for the sealing process is not only distributed selectively, but evenly over the entire sealing surface, which prevents pressure marks or other damage to the chocolate product.
Suction seal technology protects the product
Active cooling of the environment ensures additional product safety. After the sealing process, which takes approx. 50 to 60 milliseconds contact between the packaging material and the sealing jaw is terminated by moving the sealing plunger away, possibly assisted by switching off the vacuum. The packaging material is released from the sealing station and is once again in direct contact with the now fully packaged chocolate product, whereby the sealing seam only comes into contact with the product again once it has cooled down sufficiently.
The new suction seal technology can be easily integrated into the Dresden-based company's standard packaging machines and offers numerous advantages. The fact that heat is dissipated and the chocolate is protected by Aluminium laminate no longer necessary material costs are reduced. At the same time, negative environmental impacts caused by the production of the material are reduced. In addition, there is no need for an unwinding unit for aluminium paper or aluminium-PP composites in the packaging machine. This saves set-up and adjustment times and makes the packaging process more stable and therefore less susceptible to faults.
Sustainable process
Thanks to the innovative suction seal technology, there is also no need to apply glue dots to permanently seal the plastic packaging. This saves costs for glue and for cleaning and maintaining the packaging machine. In any case, the Significantly lower costs for the installation of a suction seal station than those for the purchase and maintenance of gluing units. And the contamination of chocolate products with glue is also a thing of the past thanks to the new technology. The new type of suction sealing not only for process safety but also for additional product safety for manufacturers. The purchase of a suction seal unit therefore pays off in the long term.
First Tests with standard sealable plastic monofilms have so far produced good results. achieved. With this innovative technology, the Dresden packaging machine manufacturer Manufacturers who want to score points at the POS with sustainable alternatives have completely new opportunities to optimally adapt to the changed consumer behaviour of consumers.
Source: Theegarten-Pactec
