THERMOFORMING Reduced film consumption

Greater process reliability, reduced resource consumption – when it comes to packaging fresh products such as baguettes or croissants, GEA`s latest generation of thermoforming packaging technology offers advantages.

+"Before developing the machine further, we undertook a customer survey", explains Volker Sassmannshausen, Product Manager Thermoforming. "Based on their feedback, we chose to focus on film unwinding and feeding, hygiene and overall handling. Consequently, the sealing station and bottom film infeed of the PowerPak PLUS thermoformer were completely redesigned to facilitate process transparency and traceability.“

The unwinding systems for both the top and bottom films have been optimized and are now motor-driven and synchronized with the machine’s advancing cycle. In combination with the innovative web tension system, they facilitate a controlled unwinding and a simplified and secure film path. Controlled unwinding in the bottom film infeed module innovations in film unwinding and film run, the sealing station design has also been updated. The entire top film unwinding system is located in the area of the sealing station and easily accessed. Typical tolerances of the film reels like mis-alignment or curvature can be automatically adjusted. In addition, the sealing station structure has also been fundamentally improved and is now protected by vertically adjustable and transparent safety doors, which can be lowered quickly and easily when required, eliminating the need for loose, protective hoods.

Other significant innovations in the sealing station include the motor-driven evacuation and gasification valves in combination with pressure sensors. They enable individual, reproducible as well as product- and packaging-dependent processes. And, for example, under-, upper- and product vacuum are able to be controlled and monitored, ensuring the necessary process transparency.

The new thermoforming packaging machine has been in use at Handl Tyrol GmbH since the summer of 2018 for packaging bacon products. Working primarily with printed films, packing weights and sizes are constantly changing at Handl Tyrol. As a result of the technical innovations, the company see economic benefits as a result of shorter set-up times, which are now70 percent quicker and has also halved its film changeover times, with 75 percent less film being lost during changeovers and virtually zero packaging errors. +++