The premade gusseted, side-seal bags are converted by Peel Plastic using a 48-ga polyester from Celplast (Scarborough, Ontario, Canada) laminated with linear low-density polyethylene from Pliant (Schaumburg, IL) to 48-ga metallized holographic polyester from CFC Intl. (Chicago Heights, IL). The outer polyester is reverse flexo-printed in seven colors by Peel and includes registration marks for the pouch-making operations.
The holographic substrate, which is microembossed with a snowflake pattern and metallized, is a stock material. Peel’s customer service manager David Truest reports that the converter felt confident that it would be able to find an appropriate stock pattern. That helped to keep costs down,
he adds.
“We selected CFC for the amount of customer service we received,” notes Truest. “It was the first time we’ve worked with them, and they were very helpful.” He says this project was Peel’s first use of a holographic material.
“We were a little concerned at the beginning with how the holo material would hold up to heat sealing on the bag sides and if there’d be any issues with delamination,” Truest explains, “but we really experienced nothing more than any other project where there’s something brand new.” The converter found that the snowflake pattern remains intact even after heat sealing.
After printing and laminating, the web is run on a pouch-making machine from Totani, which is represented in North America by Amplas (Green Bay, WI). The stand-up pouches were formed at a rate of 45 bags/min, Truest reports. The slider reclosure feature is applied inline in two steps, the first station that heat seals the reclosure track onto the substrate, and then a second station that attaches the slider piece. Truest points out that the slider track is sealed on one side of the pouch, which leaves the top open so that the bags can be filled and sealed by Benick using semi-automatic equipment.
See the story that goes with this sidebar: Reclosable holo bag stands out
