Many simple, easily implemented setup and preventative maintenance steps on flow wrappers and vertical baggers can have an outsized effect on package quality and productivity.
This Greener Tech Bite presents a series of Quick Tips that prevent cutting, sealing, and forming problems and help you troubleshoot issues when they do occur.
Cutting
Clean Knife and Anvil Slots
The value of cleaning on a regular schedule, instead of waiting until product contamination causes problems, can’t be overstated.
To clean knife and anvil slots on rotary sealing jaws, cut a piece of scouring pad and push it down into the slot with a hex wrench. And don’t neglect to clean the anvil slot, even though it can be more challenging to access.
Product buildup in the slot creates an unstable base that can cause intermittent cutting problems and knife failure.
Sealing
Clean Sealing Jaws Regularly
Clean sealing jaws regularly, but don’t use stiff, coarse bristled brushes—they damage the serrations and cause sealing problems.
Brushes with finer, softer bristles are more forgiving. They can be trimmed in length to clean more effectively and to keep them from splaying out.
After cleaning the jaws, run a carbon impression to check the current set up so that you can make any necessary corrective adjustments before resuming production.
Install Sealing Jaws with New Bolts and Washers
Install sealing jaws with new mounting bolts and washers. Worn, damaged bolts and washers, which can easily go unnoticed, cause inaccurate mounting and make jaws difficult to remove in the future.
To ensure accurate setup and to prevent the jaws from shifting out of alignment, use hardened, flat washers to mount jaws on flat surfaces.
Spherical washers or, if they are not available, split washers are best for mounting jaws on round shafts.
Replace All Rotary Sealing Jaws at the Same Time
Replace all rotary sealing jaws on a machine at the same time, and make sure all the jaws come from the same supplier.
You may be tempted to replace only one jaw, or just one of multiple pairs, to save time or reduce costs. But inaccurate setup caused by sealing jaws with different wear levels and designs creates sealing problems.
Check Sealing Jaw Temperatures with a Pyrometer
Sealing jaws are often hotter in the middle than at the ends, where heat dissipates more quickly. The controller, however, does not reveal this variability, since it usually only indicates the temperature at one point within the jaw.
Use a pyrometer to regularly check multiple points across the functional length of the sealing face, to make sure temperatures remain within the seal range for your flexible packaging material and conditions.
Ongoing issues with inconsistent sealing temperatures can be solved with updated heater and sealing jaw designs.
Forming
Vertical Baggers: Maintain Proper Roller Adjustment
On vertical baggers, adjust the rollers to create even, consistent contact between the material and the forming collar wing—between positions 1 and 2 in the diagram.
Too much, too little, or uneven tension, demonstrated by positions 3 and 4, can cause wrinkles and creases that degrade package appearance and cause sealing problems.
Flow Wrappers: Adjust & Tighten Guide Rails & Deck Plates
On flow wrappers, make sure the product guide rails and deck plates are adjusted and tightened properly, and exercise care when removing and reinstalling deck plates—they can be easily bent or otherwise damaged.
Misadjusted rails or deck plates that are not level and smooth can inhibit the movement of the product and packaging material and cause malformed packages that delay production.
Also make sure the forming box is square and level.
Preventative Maintenance Quick Tips
By investing a relatively small amount of consistent time and effort, preventative maintenance can help you decrease problems that delay production and reduce package quality.
To learn more about solutions for improving package quality and productivity on flow wrappers and vertical baggers, visit our Technical Resource Blog and contact Greener Corporation.
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