With the development of environmental protection trends, the requirements for plastic packaging are becoming increasingly strict. In addition to avoiding use, eliminating “excessive packaging”, and reducing waste generation, it is the primary environmental strategy for plastic packaging. As a good environmentally friendly and green packaging material, vacuum formed packaging material is deeply loved by the public. This article shares relevant knowledge about vacuum formed technology for the reference of friends in the procurement of high-quality packaging material systems
1、 Process Overview
Vacuum thermoforming: The lowest cost and simplest thermoforming process, suitable for materials such as ABS, PET, PP, PC, HIPS, HDPE, PETG， Also known as vacuum forming. Vacuum forming technology is one of the most commonly used molding methods in plastic packaging, which is a molding technology that uses thermoplastic sheets as the molding object. The vacuum forming process was developed in the early 20th century, but its application in industrial production was only after the 1940s, and it only made significant progress in the 1960s. Through continuous development and changes, the vacuum vacuum forming process has achieved a high degree of automation and mechanization, and the generation of waste materials is also decreasing.
3、 Process characteristics
Process cost: Processing cost (low to medium), single item cost (low to medium)
Environmental protection: meets the requirements of environmentally friendly and green packaging; Can package any shaped product without the need for additional cushioning materials during packaging
Suitable for: Large scale production, and suitable for mechanized and automated packaging, facilitating modern management, saving manpower, and improving efficiency.
Quality: determined by actual materials, pressure, and operating techniques
Speed: Average of 1-8 minutes per cycle
Product features: The packaged product is transparent and visible, with a beautiful appearance, making it easy to sell
Typical products: plastic foil packaging, disposable plastic lunch boxes, aerospace interiors, etc
4、 Process equipment
According to the different pressure methods of vacuum forming, mainstream vacuum forming equipment is mainly divided into the following three categories:
(1) Vacuum negative pressure plastic suction machine mainly uses negative pressure vacuum to make plastic sheets adhere to the mold;
(2) Positive pressure suction molding machine, which increases the air pressure on the front of the plastic sheet through an air compressor to make the softened plastic sheet adhere to the mold;
(3) Positive and negative pressure suction molding machine is a method of forming softened plastic sheets by applying pressure and vacuuming to create a strong pressure difference on both sides of the plastic sheet. These three devices each have their own advantages and disadvantages, and the selection of the machine should be based on the characteristics of the product.
At the same time, the vacuum forming machine is also divided into two categories according to the forming steps:
(1) One step molding machine integrates plastic sheet heating, vacuum forming, and die-cutting processing, with high production efficiency and suitable for vacuum formed products with low quality requirements;
(2) The two-step molding machine separates the heating and vacuum forming processes of plastic sheets from die-cutting processing, and is suitable for vacuum forming products with high quality requirements
5、 Application of cosmetic packaging materials
Blister products are processed with plastic, and their product generation principle is to heat and soften flat plastic hard sheet materials, then vacuum adsorb them onto the surface of the mold, and cool them to form. Blister packaging products mainly include: blister, tray, and blister box. It mainly plays a role in protecting the inner packaging materials and contents.
