 Charles H. Trillich Packworld USA President Visit Website |
Charles H. Trillich is the President of Packworld USA and for the past 25 years has dedicated himself to developing “state of the art”, impulse heat-sealing solutions for the Medical/Pharmaceutical/Healthcare industry. Under his leadership, Packworld has become the leader in resistance controlled impulse heat-sealing solutions and specializes in engineering precision controlled, validatable heat sealing machinery used throughout the industry. Packworld’s entire line of validatable pouch sealing machines come equipped with the advanced TOSS Technology, eliminating the inherent errors and lag in response time found in machines controlled with thermocouples. The TOSS controls and components are used to create precision systems that produce perfect seals - every time.
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Heat Sealing Q&A
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Asked May 27th, 2009
There are many different formulations of medical papers and the specifics of achieving certain results depends upon the characteristics of the selected medical packaging paper, the coating that is applied, and the additives that may be included within the PE film being applied. Medical packaging also includes sheet materials that are proprietary polymeric formulations such as Ovantex from Oliver/Tolas and Tyvek from DuPont. A comprehensive treatise on the subject of material selection was published in the February 2001 issue of PMP News.
A well-executed sealing procedure is required to achieve absolutely consistent results. The seal must be smooth, clean, and predictable. The specifications for a precision seal cannot be established until the material combinations are known. The sealing parameters can be developed in cooperation with the material suppliers and the heat sealer manufacturer. It is, however, absolutely essential to use precision sealing equipment to achieve a consistent precision seal. The time and temperature of the heating cycle as well as the dwell time of the cooling cycle must be maintained within narrow windows of opportunity. A free booklet on sealing systems that employ Toss Technology for high precision is available at www.tossheatseal.com.
As far as determining burst strength goes, the question of establishing a reasonable standard for burst strength is very pragmatic. One needs to consider the forces that may be applied to a package from its formation until it arrives at its point of use. The mode of subsequent handling and environmental influences must be considered. Will it be shipped by air? If so, will it be in a pressure-compensated compartment? The safest solution is to use information collected from similar packages or create samples for testing. The greater question is, “How can burst strength be improved?”
Package configuration can improve burst strength. Longer, slender packages are stronger. In addition, the use of impulse seals with tapered heat-seal bands improves seal strength and eliminates the risk of “zipper” failures along the edge of the seal.
