Heat sealing method for bags unveiled by GIC

QPH is particularly useful in produce-packing, where unrecyclable laminates are being replaced by mono-material polyethylene (PE) and other polymers, GIC said.

The technology was first developed by Ceetak around a decade ago, GIC managing director Andy Beal told Food Manufacture​.

“Today, businesses running mono low-density PE, for example, might go back to a form of impulse heatseal, rather than crimp heatseal,”​ he said. “But QPH is simpler than impulse, both to set up and run.”​ The system is operated from a GIC touchscreen.

Film usage can be cut​

QPH uses alternating focused heat and water cooling to form a narrow seal (1–1.5mm, according to Ceetak), said to allow film usage to be cut by around 10% compared with crimp sealing.

For leaves, it can complement GIC’s Leaf Salad Assisted Drop, a system that helps to reduce product-in-seal faults.

Assisted Drop uses low pressure to draw salad leaves into the bag in a single load. This prevented product mass elongating into clumps of salad leaf, in turn decreasing the risk of contamination, it said.