Abbey Equipment Solutions and Junapack Create Pouch Design Guide for Rotary Bagger Systems
By Abbey Equipment
Abbey Equipment Solutions and Junapack are always looking for ways to simplify our customers’ lives.
That’s why we have created a pouch design guide for efficient operation for Rotary Bagger Systems!
The relationship between the zipper, header seal, and tear notch should be kept constant across ALL pouch formats.
Why?
Pouches are held inside the gripper at zipper height level. If the top seal, zipper, and tear notch dimensions remain constant across all pouches, there will be no need to adjust pouch height inside grippers, saving time and eliminating setup.
Should there be a hang-hole (preferably not), the suction cups should be set either side of the hang-hole, and the top seal width needs to extend at least three mm below the bottom of the hang-hole, and the bottom of the hang-hole needs to be at least five mm above the tear notch line.
Keeping pouches the same width and changing the height or gusset also makes changeovers easier, reducing set-up issues.
If all pouches can’t be made to the same width, try to have as few widths as possible and only adjust pouch height or gusset.
Pouch Width:
The wider the pouch is, the larger the funnel size that can be inserted, and the easier the product will pass through the funnel. We recommend that the lower funnel orifice be 1.75 times the largest dimension of the product, so if the part dimension is 25 mm, the minimum funnel orifice should be 25 x 1.75 = 44 mm, so the funnel that could be used for this product would be 50 mm, but that’s assuming a single item passing through the funnel at any one time. If we wish to pass multiples through (as is normally the case), we must factor by another 1.75, so 44 x 1.75=77 mm, so the funnel size for this product is 80 mm.
The larger the funnel, the easier for the product to pass through, and the faster line speed we can maintain.
The pouch opening is an oval shape, yet we need to have the opening large enough to accommodate the round funnel, so an 80-mm funnel will need to have an opening more than 100 mm to guarantee clean entry 100 per cent of the time. To achieve this, the pouch would need to be over 220 mm wide. A rule of thumb is that the width of the pouch should be at least three times the diameter of the lower funnel dimension.
Pouch Volume: (Fill Level)
Product fill level in the pouch can affect pouch stretching and sealing. If product fill level is too high in the pouch, it can inhibit the stretching motion to pull closed the pouch before top sealing and can even push product up into the seal area, inhibiting good sealing.
A general guide is to have a maximum fill level never higher that two inches below the bottom of the zipper (or 2.5 to three inches below the seal area, if no zipper fitted).
Summary:
If the header seal remains constant across all pouches, width changes stay to a minimum, and just make changes on height or gusset, changeovers will be quicker and more efficient. Visit us at www.abbeyequipment.com for more information. Located in Burlington, Ont. and servicing all of Canada.
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