Applying tear strips quickly

Tear strips on shipping packaging or shipping pouches offer online customers several advantages:

Customers can quickly open the packaging with a hand motion. There is no need to search for a pair of scissors to access the desired contents.
The packaging does not tear open uncontrollably because the tear strip reinforces the substrate and, if necessary, also the existing perforation. This means that customers can use the same packaging for returns. This increases sustainability in e-commerce.
When used with a silicone release liner, online customers save time on returns. "Where is the adhesive tape again?"

Are you familiar with the problem of pre-glued tear strips? To ensure that the tear strip adheres reliably to the substrate, the application speed must be reduced to approx. 140 - 120 m/min or even less. Pre-glued tear strips on rolls of up to 20 km are used.

Direct hotmelt adhesive application enables a production speed of 200 m/min. The substrate determines the application process to be used:

In the case of cardboard packaging and envelopes, a coating head applies an approx. 3.5 mm wide hotmelt strip directly to the substrate, depending on the width of the tear strip. An applicator (partner company) then applies the tear strip exactly to the PSA hotmelt strip.
Shipping pouches made of film are heat-sensitive. Therefore, with this substrate, the coating head applies the adhesive directly to the tear strip from the roll. The application is intermittent and highly precise. An applicator then applies the glued tear strip to the film. The film is cut exactly at the points where the tear strip was not glued. This keeps the cutting tools free of glue.

Rolls with unglued tear strips have a length of up to 30 km. Machine stops due to roll changes are thus less frequent than with pre-glued tear strips.

Precision in the adhesive application is particularly important in the intermittent adhesive application because strip tension can cause product rejects and machine downtimes. The Vivo 18 coating head achieves its clean cut-off via the negatively closing jetting element and the flexibly adjustable application angle to the substrate.

Depending on the width of the tear strip, the width of the adhesive application can also be adjusted via quickly exchangeable masks. The mask also ensures precise edge definition. In combination with an application system for silicone release liners, spare parts inventory is simplified considerably because the Vivo 18 coating head is used in both applications.