Film & Foil
easily abraded or scratched during their travels through the laminator. Stand up pouches allow for a visually
different and a more practical approach for many food and beverage items with foils and metallics playing an important role in the structure of a pouch laminate. From a converter’s perspective a pouch could be configured in the following manner: PET/ print/ adhesive/ metallised/ sealant or PET/ print/ adhesive/ metallised OPP/ sealant. PET provides printability and imparts stiffness to the structure and the metallised layer or ply serves as an oxygen and moisture barrier. The metallised filmic component also is aesthetically pleasing and enhances product appeal. If OPP is substituted then functionality is slightly altered though barrier against moisture and stiffness of structure is still obtained. Pouches can of course be co-extruded structures and a wide range of films/foil/papers may be used in a laminated pouch. A membrane of alu-foil will transform a simple pouch into a product, which behaves very much like an aseptic or sterilisable can. A pouch whether it is a stand up gusseted or a pillow pouch occupies a fraction of the space that a conventional can occupies and is of a lower weight. In quality focussed markets top flight
printers and converters must process to the
highest of standards in order to minimise the risk of customer returns and to avoid when applicable penalty clauses. It is necessary to have quality control procedures in place and appropriate systems and technology to flag up potential problems; to trial unfamiliar materials/consumables; to determine processability and assess commercial and product/process viability and maintain colour fidelity, etc. Packaging technologists and
converters must weigh up the advantages and disadvantages of the various materials that they use and the various laminating components, the inks and adhesives and whether the technologies that they intend to print with, coat with and laminate with are the most suitable for the intended process. Systems such as the VCML-Lab/Pilot
coater, available in working web widths of up to 300mm can be used to address the processing and commercial concerns of the customer: assisting in bringing new products, materials and formulae such as inks, adhesives and coatings onto the market more speedily. Suitable for conducting trials the VCML-Lab/Pilot coater is also able to undertake small-scale production runs. It can print, coat and laminate on all types of flexible substrates including foils
and metallised films/papers, etc and on a reel-to-reel basis. Processes available include, but are not limited to: flexography, gravure, screen, knife over roll, slot die, direct/indirect gravure coating, reverse roll, hot melt, etc. Lamination both wet and dry can be undertaken and drying options include hot air, infrared and UV curing. Product appearance is critical in an age
where so many similar products may be on the retail shelf vying for attention. With materials such as foils and metallised papers it is very noticeable when things go awry. The brilliance of the surface magnifies blemishes and colour inconsistencies. Colour communication devices such as the K Printing Proofer can prove valuable in ensuring that converting plants that use multi-print processes can consistently hit colour targets. The K Printing Proofer enables users to obtain high quality proofs using gravure, gravure-offset or flexo inks. Two or more inks can be printed simultaneously for comparison purposes and registration is included for overprinting. Adding to its versatility both wet and dry laminated samples can be produced using the gravure print head in conjunction with RKs own K-Lam laminating accessories.
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