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How is plastic film made?
A manufacturer uses an extruder which has a highly polished screw conveys and shears plastic pellets inside a barrel while heating, compressing and melting the polymer into a homogenous molten mass. At the end of the extruder, molten plastic is pushed out through a die which is normally circular. The round extruded tube is inflated with air pressure resulting in the process being called "blown film manfacturing". The tube rises into a structure on this column of air pressure allowing it to cool. Often film is folded but it can be slit before it is laid onto a tubular core for shipping to a variety of other converter companies for additional processing steps including printing and bag making. Multi-layer films can be easily made using multiple extruders feeding into a single die.
How is plastic film different from a plastic sheet?
Plastic sheets are a continuous plastic material thicker than 0.25 mm that is generally wrapped on a core but also commonly sliced into sheets. Plastic film is anything thinner than that. Plastic material is fed to an extruder machine which delivers molten polymer to a round die making a continuous film tube. The extruded tube rises on a column of air pressure that assists in cooling the thermoplastic while keeping the tube fully inflated until it is either slit or folded for storage on cores. Film can be formed from a variety of flexible materials including polyethylene of any density (polythene as the UK says), polypropylene, nylon as well as many others. The film can be clear, colored, smooth, or printed depending on the demands of the application. Plastic films are used as mainly as containers for many different products including the common grocery carrying bags, chip and cereal bags and similar products.
How does Extrusion Consulting assist film manufacturing clients?
While the project list will continue to grow, we have assisted clients in several ways. The most popular projects in the last few years have been in machine-side trouble-shooting of processing equipment problems as well as projects involving biodegradable materials. We can also assist with business plan development, resin selection, converting efficiency and toll manufacturing. If your business has a different need, then challenge us. We are always ready to provides solutions for new types of projects including pouches and form/fill/seal applications.
A manufacturer uses an extruder which has a highly polished screw conveys and shears plastic pellets inside a barrel while heating, compressing and melting the polymer into a homogenous molten mass. At the end of the extruder, molten plastic is pushed out through a die which is normally circular. The round extruded tube is inflated with air pressure resulting in the process being called "blown film manfacturing". The tube rises into a structure on this column of air pressure allowing it to cool. Often film is folded but it can be slit before it is laid onto a tubular core for shipping to a variety of other converter companies for additional processing steps including printing and bag making. Multi-layer films can be easily made using multiple extruders feeding into a single die.
How is plastic film different from a plastic sheet?
Plastic sheets are a continuous plastic material thicker than 0.25 mm that is generally wrapped on a core but also commonly sliced into sheets. Plastic film is anything thinner than that. Plastic material is fed to an extruder machine which delivers molten polymer to a round die making a continuous film tube. The extruded tube rises on a column of air pressure that assists in cooling the thermoplastic while keeping the tube fully inflated until it is either slit or folded for storage on cores. Film can be formed from a variety of flexible materials including polyethylene of any density (polythene as the UK says), polypropylene, nylon as well as many others. The film can be clear, colored, smooth, or printed depending on the demands of the application. Plastic films are used as mainly as containers for many different products including the common grocery carrying bags, chip and cereal bags and similar products.
How does Extrusion Consulting assist film manufacturing clients?
While the project list will continue to grow, we have assisted clients in several ways. The most popular projects in the last few years have been in machine-side trouble-shooting of processing equipment problems as well as projects involving biodegradable materials. We can also assist with business plan development, resin selection, converting efficiency and toll manufacturing. If your business has a different need, then challenge us. We are always ready to provides solutions for new types of projects including pouches and form/fill/seal applications.
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