Tray Sealers for Packaging

Tray sealers are used to apply plastic film to the top of a plastic, foam, paperboard, or metal tray. The film is then heated, so that the film shrinks around the rim of the tray to create an airtight seal. These systems are used extensively in the packaging of processed foods, prepared foods, and medical parts and devices. Sealing methods vary depending on the type of product, level of automation, and the environment in which items are being packaged. System design can be very simple or highly complex, suited for small, medium range, and high speed production lines. Sealers can be found in industrial packaging facilities, grocery stores, harvesting operations, and institutional cafeterias. They can be used on a wide range of tray styles and compositions as well.

Applications and Industries

The food industry utilizes tray sealers extensively. Trays are efficient for a number of reasons. They reduce excess packaging materials by eliminating the need for a paper, plastic, or foam box, and allow packagers and consumers to see the contents of each package. Visibility is particularly important for fresh foods, convenience foods, frozen foods, and quality inspection for all food types. Microwavable, ovenable, and standard foam, plastic, and paperboard tray styles can be processed effectively with this equipment. These systems are used not only for consumer packaged foods, but for full case packs as well. In the medical industry, tray sealers are used for a variety of purposes, including the preparation of surgical kits for medical and dental procedures. Again, the ability to visibly inspect package contents quickly and easily is an important advantage of tray packs. For food and medical applications, maintaining a clean or sterile environment within the package, and providing a strong barrier against contamination, are also extremely important. Vacuum sealers can be used to draw air out of the package and create a vacuum pack. For sterile packaging environments, stainless steel machines permit the complete washdown of equipment at shift changes.

Automation Options for Tray Sealers

Sealing systems can be as simple as a tabletop, single unit sealer, or very complex. Semi automatic and fully automatic sealers can be customized to process specific tray configurations, and seal multiple trays during each cycle. Sealing speed ranges from 10 trays per minute to upwards of 100 trays per minute. In addition to being affected by the level of automation used, sealing speed depends on the size of the tray, the thickness of the film, the heating system used, and other application variables. Heritage Pioneer is experienced in identifying packaging solutions for this style of automation in both the food and medical / pharmaceutical industries. It is important to select a system that maximizes current packaging efficiency as well as ensure scalability for future needs.

Tray Sealers solutions are available from Heritage Pioneer, please contact us today! Or, visit our main Heritage Pioneer main page for other packaging solutions.