TIGHT AND GOOD-LOOKING SEALS ON VELTEKO'S SLIM SERIES

Velteko Interview

We recently spoke with Frantisek Smid, Owner and Head of VELTEKO‘s Technical Department, about the competitive advantages of the SLIM series of vertical packaging machines.

What are the main advantages of the new generation of SLIM series vertical packaging machines?

Frantisek Smid: “Our goal was to ensure it had a higher level of technical operation than existing machines on the market for creating high-quality pillow bags. The quality of the bag largely depends on the quality of the seals. Achieving good seals is dependent on the conditions under which the seal is created. 

In layman‘s terms: to achieve a quality seal on the packaging film you need the optimal temperature, with the optimal pressure, for the optimal time. The SLIM machine has many additional features and advantages, but fulfillment of this requirement was the most important. I believe we have reached this goal.”

What makes this technology unique? 

The compact SLIM machine operates with a continuous feed of packaging film and includes two design solutions that are essential for making high quality bags at high speed. These two solutions are a sophisticated cross sealing mechanism and VELTEKO Powerseal. Conventional machines do not have these features.

Machines with rotary jaws are inherently unable to achieve optimum seals since they have only a fraction of time to carry out the sealing process compared to machines that seal with moving jaws. The major drawback for users of machines with rotating jaws is they must use high sealing temperatures. But this is not the optimal solution if you want good-looking bags with tight seals. The mechanisms of conventional machines with parallel jaws are not able to generate the force required to achieve sealing pressure across the entire area of the bag’s surface. This lack of pressure is then `solved‘ by reducing the area to be sealed.

Both above mentioned drawbacks with conventional machines can be practically solved by reducing their speed, but this is also disadvantageous for the customer.

For owners of the SLIM, there is no risk of encountering these shortcomings and functional compromises.

Where is the added value for customers and what are the other advantages of the machine?

Frantisek Smid: “SLIM machines offer all conditions necessary to produce high quality seals at high speed. Its additional advantages are similar to other VELTEKO machines. These include automatic foil centering on the forming collar, automatic adjustment of the shaft position when unwinding foil in accordance with its width, using VT + groups to reduce demands on the operator when resizing bags, machine control via an industrial computer (and all advantages that come with it), VPN router & IP Camera for remote servicing, TWIN design, and many more.” 

Who are SLIM vertical packaging machines designed for? 

Frantisek Smid: “SLIM machines were originally intended for packaging „snack“ products in pillow bags. For these products, packaging films with inferior characteristics for producing high-quality seals are frequently used. Thanks to the one-purpose operation of SLIM machines (intended only for the production of pillow bags), they are offered at lower prices than our universal VELTEKO packaging machines. Therefore, we say that SLIM machines are intended for all customers who package their products in pillow bags, need goodlooking bags, require tight seals and demand high speed.”