How to choose an impulse heat sealer for your industry

When it comes to choosing the perfect heat sealer for your industry’s needs, you can easily be overwhelmed with various model features and the different heat-sealing technologies.  Choosing a sealer depends on how you are going to use it, what materials you need to seal, and how often are you going to use it.

Ask yourself these questions, do you want speed? Or do you want economical and safe features?

Two of the most common heat-sealing technologies are the constant heat sealers and the impulse heat sealers. These are often compared to one another and leave prospective heat-sealer buyers wanting more details about how each technology works.

Constant heat sealers have seal blades that can be of various shapes, which allows the seals to be of various shapes. The seal blades are constantly kept at high temperatures to fuse the object into the perfect seal. Constant heat sealers are known for faster seals because they do not require a cooling period, but that means you may not receive as clean of a sealing finish as our impulse sealers.

Impulse heat sealers fuse the film by conducting electricity on impulse through a heater ribbon, which dictates the seal to be a straight line. Impulse heat sealers require a cooling period, which makes the sealing process take longer than our constant heat sealers. There are some methods available to overcome a longer sealing time, such as air-cooling and water-cooling, which are forced cooling methods.

In addition to the constant heat sealer and the impulse heat sealer, there are two other heat-sealing technologies that are offered: ultrasonic sealers and high-frequency sealers. These four different heat-sealing technologies provide properties that may be essential to your industry, such as seal temperature control, risk of burns, energy consumption, seal finish precision and the amount of time the seal process needs. To break all this information down about the different types of heat-sealers, we are going to explain the features found in each type of sealer so you can make an informed decision.

Impulse Sealer

Impulse sealers get their name from sending a high current on impulse (or instantaneously) to a heater ribbon, that is located on the heat-sealing blade, to generate heat that enables the thermal sealing.  The section to be sealed is placed between the heat-sealing blades; pressure is applied, and is thermal-fused when the heat is delivered on impulse through the heater ribbon.  Once the current stops, a cooling period with maintained pressure is necessary.

Constant Heat Sealer

Constant heat-sealers have a built-in heating element inside the blade to generate heat. Heat-sealing occurs by generating heat and controlling temperature at the seal blade. These types of sealers can seal many shapes, such as the cup seal.

One pro of the constant heat sealer is the fast sealing speed, due to the face that it does not require a cooling period.  A con of this sealer is that, unless you use an automated machine, you need to be a skilled operator to handle the hand-or-foot operated machine as the pressure application and foot application time dictates the seal integrity. Even though a lot of our sealers are known for their “no waiting” heat sealing, this sealer does require some time to warm up before you can seal.

Ultrasonic Sealer

An ultrasonic sealer converts ultrasonic energy of 20Khz frequency energy or higher into a mechanical frequency energy, then the frequency waves travel from the resonator horn to the section to be fused, and generates strong friction heat to seal the object.  Unlike high-frequency sealers, this sealer can thermal-heat almost anything such as film and nonwoven materials as long as they are thermoplastic. If you are interested in this type of sealer, we offer this model under the US-60B category.

High-frequency Sealer

High-frequency sealers apply high-frequency voltage to the electrodes as the packaging material is being pressed. The high-frequency dielectric heating generates heat from within the packaging material, causing it to seal. The constant frequency and the potential for high-frequency power allow the heat value to get higher as the dielectric loss factor increases. This type of sealer can only be used with resins that have high dielectric loss factors, such as vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride and nylon.

In order to find a heat-sealer that will benefit your industry, remember to always keep in mind your industry’s need while exploring the four different heat-sealing technologies.

How does an impulse commercial vacuum sealer work?

Impulse vacuum sealers consist of a rather simple operation, yet powerful seal, that allows them to be well suited for a variety of industries. Typical industries that utilize impulse vacuum sealers are the food industry, dairy farming and the light electrical appliance industry. We offer several series of our impulse vacuum sealers, such as the V-300, V-402, V-401, and FCB-200. Each model varies in the operation and the design of the vacuum sealer.

Starting with the V-402 series, this is a heavy-duty vacuum sealer perfect for maintaining fresh food products and perishable food. This sealer prevents the oxidation of items, such as parts, apparel, chemicals and precision machinery.

The powerful seal starts with a built-in compressor to generate the vacuum seal. The convenient aspect of this sealer is, there is no need for a separate compressor to complete the seal and it is ready for use once it is turned on! There is no waiting period for the vacuum sealer to warm up.

In order to set the conditions of the seal, you simply follow the detailed confirmation steps throughout the process on the built-in touch screen. The user can customize up to 10 work patterns, allowing for controlled sealing conditions after the initial set up.

Our V-402 sealers come equipped with ONPUL, which is a heating temperature control feature that allows the user to set and maintain the ideal heating temperature. No longer is there a fear of melting the seal or causing burn injuries to your employees. This feature also eliminates wasted energy consumption, improves sealing precision and minimizes wear and tear on the heating element.

If you are looking to add on to the V-402 series, you have the option of choosing the V-402-CH. This sealer has a clean-room specification feature which adds an exhaust fan and duct flange mounted on the side of the sealer. The duct allows the particles generated inside the machine to be removed safely outside the clean room.

Our next vacuum impulse sealer is the V-401 series. The design of these sealers has a drip-proof, all stainless body and an air pedal that allows for packaging of liquid material because it lacks electric parts. The single heater model is attached to the top-clamping lever where it is less likely to be exposed to liquids.

The operation of this model uses an ejector-vacuum method, which utilizes the flow of compressed air to eject the gas inside of the bag outside of the machine. Unlike the vacuum pump, it does not collect foreign objects, such as liquid and powder taken from the bag, within the body of the machine. Although the ejector-vacuum method doesn’t have a high vacuum rate, its main advantage is the very high speed of removing gas.  This model does require a separate air compressor to operate the machine and it must have the following capacity: 1.5KW or more

The last model of our impulse vacuum sealers is the FCB-200, which comes equipped with a chamber vacuum sealer and heating-temperature control. The ultimate vacuum is high, at about -100pa. This model comes with a built-in vacuum gauge, complete with a simple button operation that allows the user to adjust the vacuum rate in the range of -50 to -100Kpa depending on the package content.

This model also comes with ONPUL; this chamber vacuum sealer allows users to set the perfect heating and cooling temperatures for the material and thickness of the bag.

To run the FCB you simply set the sealing conditions and vacuum rate. Then set the bag in the chamber and close the lid. After pressing the start button the sealing process will automatically begin. To notify you when the sealing process is complete, a beeping noise will occur. When the power is turned off, the sealer will automatically run one more time without actually processing any bag to clean out the collection of dirt and other foreign objects, which reduces daily maintenance. 

Several Industries Benefit from Impulse Heat Sealers

Impulse heat sealers have many advantages that benefit a whole range of industries, the top five are:

1. Apparel (individual packaging for items of clothing) 
2. Food packaging 
3. Confectionery production/bread making/seafood 
4. Hospitals/clinics (individual medication packaging; sterilization bags) 
5. Industrial components (parts, tools) 

General Advantages of Impulse Heat Sealers

These sealers work by sending a current on impulse to a heater ribbon, situated on either one or two heating elements, thereby generating the heat required to seal a package. Once the current stops, the seal is kept under pressure until cooled. This process has several advantages, including:
Instant readiness (there is no warm-up period)
Cost-effectiveness (electricity is only used during the sealing process and instant readiness reduces production/packaging times)
Pressure during fusion and cooling produces clean, strong seals each time
Reduced risk of injury (no continually hot parts)

Advantages for the Apparel Industry

There is increasing pressure for clothing to be packaged in cost-effective, environmentally friendly and space-saving packaging. Impulse heat sealers can operate with foils onto which item descriptions, prices, and so on can be printed directly, reducing both the amount of raw materials required and the associated cost. Because the seals are consistently neat, clothing is packed tidy and presentable at all times. In short, impulse heat-sealed packaging requires less space, has a lower impact on the environment as a result of using fewer natural resources, and is quicker - thus saving on labor-cost - than boxes, for example.

In addition, the strength of the seals ensures that clothing made from moisture sensitive materials is protected against potential environmental problems.

Food Packaging Advantages

The food packaging industry faces many challenges, from health and safety to environmental regulations; from the need to extend the shelf-life of foods to presenting the packaged food items in a manner that is attractive to consumers. Impulse heat sealers, in particular those using a vacuum and those with a combined vacuum/gas flush system, ensure that food sealed in bags remains fresh for longer by excluding oxygen and air-borne bacteria likely to cause decay, molds and other problems potentially affecting food. Food subsequently reaches the consumer in a far fresher state.

Consistently neat, uniform sealing means the food is presented attractively, while at the same time assuring consumers that their food could not have been tampered with. Naturally, the savings on electricity and time make impulse heat sealers a far more cost-effective alternative to other packaging methods.

Confectionery Production/Bread Making/Seafood

Similar to general food packaging, confectionery, bread, fish and seafood need to be packaged in a way that keeps them fresh for as long as possible, while at the same time needing to be attractive to consumers. Packaging can also be kept far more compact, reducing the overall cost of packaging substantially.

In addition, many items of confectionery - as well as bread products and seafood - are delivered to retailers in bulk quantities. Impulse heat sealers allow for these deliveries to be repacked into 'consumer-sized portions' quickly, efficiently and safely. With fish and seafood, speed in packaging is often of the essence, and as well as meeting the need for speed, impulse heat sealers produce the kind of seal that will not only keep things fresh, it will also keep in the sometimes somewhat unpleasant odors associated with fish.

Hospitals and Clinics

Hygiene is of utmost importance when it comes to medical and surgical equipment. Sterilized instruments, syringes, swabs and many similar items need to be sealed quickly and with an assurance of consistency in seals. Impulse heat sealers meet these requirements, and allow quality personnel to easily monitor, control and validate the packaging process. As a result, accidental contamination of equipment through delays in the sealing process, insufficient fusion temperatures or broken seals can be avoided.

When used in the context of packaging medication, impulse heat sealers provide a variety of benefits. In addition to reducing size and cost of packaging materials, the sealed packages are kept sterile and can also be easily checked for signs of tampering.

Industrial Components

Whether parts are of a purely mechanical or of an electronic nature, the two main enemies of most industrial tools and parts are moisture and oxygen. By effectively protecting industrial parts/ tools against exposure to both, impulse heat sealers reduce the risk of corrosion and subsequently ensure parts reach the end-user in a perfect, high quality state.

As with all industries, the cost-saving benefits of these sealers include reduced size and cost of packages; reduced energy consumption and reduced packaging times, allowing for higher quantities to be packed at lower cost, essentially increasing productivity while saving on expenses.