New Tools in the Fight for Food Safety

Systems can be designed to handle a wide range of cap/liner/container configurations for liquids, oils, and solids packaged in both plastics and glass.

Product protection is created when the induction cap sealer bonds the liner to the container lip. During the process, the sealing head transforms the electrical energy into a magnetic field to which the foil liner is exposed. The resistance of the foil in the liner interacts with the electrical energy, heating the foil, which then melts the polymer layer on the liner. The cooled polymer adheres to both the liner and the lip of the container to create the seal.

ABI, Inc

Enercon Industries Corp. also offers the Super Seal Jr., which seals everything from the smallest closures to 120 mm wide-mouth containers and asserts a very small footprint.

“Once installed, the benefits go well beyond tamper evidence,” Plantier said. “The seal creates a hermetic barrier that also protects the product from oxygen and moisture.”

Advances in equipment design are enabling induction sealers to be integrated with complex packaging lines. Systems such as the new Super Seal Touch feature full network connectivity and an on-board touch screen that allows for recipe management, operator lockout, and detailed fault and diagnostics information. In addition, free laboratory testing is available to help packagers ensure the best material and equipment solution for their application.

The Super Seal Jr. offers a combination of sealing capability, portability, and production flexibility with a very small footprint. It seals everything from the smallest closures to 120 mm wide-mouth containers. The unit’s compact design and high performance is a direct result of electronic architecture that features a proprietary switching device technique. The system is ideal for laboratory applications, manual production, off-line testing, and start-up operations with aspirations of increased productivity. An operator-friendly display, digital sealing timer, and missing foil indicator, as well as an electronic batch and foil counter, are included.

Ultrasonic Sealing

Herrmann Ultrasonics of Bartlett, Ill., provides equipment to various industries for the automated sealing of packages. The package types and corresponding equipment include stand-up pouches; vertical form/fill/seal; horizontal form/fill/seal; rigid containers, such as preformed trays, bowls, and cups; and cartons, such as gable-tops, spouts, fitments, and drink boxes.

ABI, Inc

Herrmann Ultrasonics manufactures equipment for the automatic sealing of packages that uses vibrational energy to prevent rises in the temperature of the product or the tools and supports sustainability initiatives with narrow seals allowing for the reduction of overall package size.

According to Steve Bellavia, product manager–packaging, ultrasonic package sealing offers some distinct advantages compared with traditional heat sealing systems, such as the ability to hermetically seal through product contamination in the seal area and eliminate hot-tack issues or shrinkage. Other advantages include fast seal times with superior seal quality, reduced maintenance issues (with no tape required, the film does not stick to sealing tools) and applicability for peelable seals.

Ultrasonics uses vibrational energy. There is no rise in temperature of the product or the tools, thus removing the chance of any burn hazard.

Ultransonics also supports sustainability initiatives. The seals are very narrow but do not compromise seal integrity. Due to narrow seals, the potential to reduce overall package size exists. Plus, overall power consumption compared to a heat system is reduced by 80 percent.

“Herrmann Ultrasonics equipment is used in automated packaging machines where benefits such as the ability to seal through contamination, instant machine startup, seal validation, and decreased sealing times are required,” Bellavia said. “The equipment provides for a 100 percent ultrasonic vf/f/s system sealing solution, including the latest achievement of a vertical overlap back seal created exclusively with ultrasonics. This total ultrasonic solution greatly improves the overall manufacturing efficiency by reducing energy consumption, reduces leaker rates by sealing through product in the seal area, eliminates typical hot tack issues, and allows for the use of lower cost, less complex film structures.”