Packaging securely tied up

© Mosca AG

Economical, eco-friendly and future-proof. These are qualities which should characterise all technical innovations today. Strapping technology is no exception. After all the efficient and individualised securing of loads for transportation is a must in every sector of industry now.

Nearly all products are different and therefore unique - in size, weight, shape and material. However, all of them need packaging that offers reliable protection from transport damage while also being as cost-effective and eco-friendly as possible. Whether it’s a mail order company, a pharmaceutical distributor, the wood industry or the building material industry: If a large number of items need to be securely packaged and strapped up, then high-performance systems are required that need very little maintenance but which nevertheless last for a good period of time.

Although much of this is now handled by shrink and stretch film, strapping is often the fastest and most cost-effective method and one that requires relatively little material and energy. In many areas of application it has become established as an efficient method of securing transport items and is becoming increasingly widespread. Another major benefit of strapping is that the required equipment has now reached a fairly advanced level of automation and is therefore becoming increasingly secure, flexible and economical. The most paramount criterion when deciding to use either steel or plastic strapping is whether it maintains its tension.

Another vital point is of course resistance, particular in the packaging of heavy items. Moreover, it is also important to keep an eye on impact during transportation, such as shaking, vibration and rough handling while items are lifted and put down, as well as weather conditions, such as humidity and temperature fluctuations which may cause packaging to shrink or expand. Elastic bands made from a variety of plastic materials adjust themselves to each product and can easily be recycled. This technology is just as suitable for palleted products as it is for stacked trays, boxes, etc. The heavier a packaged item, the greater the need for steel straps.

In all, strapping requires very little time, scores in its modest use of material and is relatively cost-effective. Everything is technically available these days, ranging from inexpensive all-round products to high-performance strapping machines. As a bonding technique for technical thermoplastics, ultrasonic sealing technology is likely to become increasingly widespread in this segment: Using pressure, mechanical vibrations are transmitted to the ends of the plastic strap. The resulting heat then softens the plastic, so that the strap ends are bonded together. The use of ultrasound involves virtually no wear and tear, and the seal is extremely hard wearing.

Fully automatic strapping with corrugated board

Last spring Gerd Mosca AG succeeded in launching a product called UTARI-2 – a new and fully automatic strapping machine that was developed specially for corrugated board and has now entered the mass production stage. According to the company, 20 machines were sold worldwide as early as the market launch phase.

The prototype had already been presented at the drupa print media trade fair in Düsseldorf in 2008. This high-performance machine can be integrated into automated corrugated board production lines at an excellent speed, as it straps up to 30 packages per minute in precisely aligned stacks. To ensure maximum product safety, the strap runs not only in a transverse direction – as it does in more simple models - but also in parallel with the direction of the corrugation.

An integrated alignment station ensures that incoming stacks are straight on all sides and are kept securely in place. This means that each stack leaves the machine precisely strapped and with accurately aligned edges. Setup processes run automatically. This fully automatic process integration is to ensure short setup times and short downtimes. Thanks to online data import by the upstream corrugated board machine, the UTARI-2 quickly adjusts to new sizes, while minimising setup times. Whenever a strap reel is finished, a new strap is automatically bonded to the previous strap without disrupting production. The company reckons that if 1,000 reels are used per year under single-shift operation and a speed of 25 packages per minutes, this method can save production losses of approx. 50 hours or 75,000 packages.