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Non-contact laser sealing of thin polyester food packaging films
journal contribution
posted on 2013-09-18, 11:09 authored by Neil Brown, David KerrDavid Kerr, Robert M. Parkin, Michael R. Jackson, Fangmin ShiWe describe a laser-based, non-contact sealing technique for thin, polyester-based lidding
films, used in PET containers for food packaging. The method uses a beam-steered laser to
seal the container, thereby enabling virtually instant changeover from one product line to
another. Unlike conventional sealing PET film processes, no bespoke tooling is required to
hold the package components in close proximity and under pressure whilst the seal is formed.
This greatly reduces sealing machine tooling costs and potential downtime at product
changeovers. Results are presented that show that the process is able to produce seals of
higher strength using thin (26μm) polyester film than those from the conventional
thermal/mechanical process. This provides a potential for increased production flexibility,
reduction in product wastage, and for reducing the cost and embodied energy in construction
of a less massive sealing machine.
History
School
- Mechanical, Electrical and Manufacturing Engineering
Citation
BROWN, N. ... et al, 2012. Non-contact laser sealing of thin polyester food packaging films. Optics and Lasers in Engineering, 50 (10), pp.1466-1473.Publisher
© ElsevierVersion
- AM (Accepted Manuscript)
Publication date
2012Notes
This is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in the journal, Optics and Lasers in Engineering. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.optlaseng.2012.04.001ISSN
0143-8166Publisher version
Language
- en