Cast Coextrusion with on-line melt embossing and on-line lamination
This is a process that allows our company to use the most up-to-date film production techniques.
The process performances include:
high running speed plus tighter control of the thickness and of the other process characteristics.
the possibility of having products meeting the market requests, also allowing extrusion- lamination on substrates to be very different from each other and overcoming any adhesion problem.
textile-like surface.
Hot-melt lamination line
This process gives very soft absorbent laminates for high performance hygiene and medical products.
Cast Coex Process
The polymer is taken from
the silos through a pneumatic system, then it feeds the extruders through gravimetric
dosers, together with additives. The extruders melt base polymers and additives ainto a
highly homogeneous flow. Each extruder flow is directed towards a feed-block that keeps
the different molten materials separated.
The use of different extruders and of the feed block makes it possible to create various
combinations of different materials. With the characteristics of this process we can
produce film composed of 1 to 5 layers with the following possible structures: ABC CABC
CABAC and so on.
The molten polymer is gauged with a flat die.
The film exits through the
flat die and it is cooled on an embossed roll with a rubber counter-roll in order to
engrave the embossing design on the surface of the plastic film.
The embossed film goes through the cooling rolls and then reaches a cutting station where
edges are sucked up.
Then the film passes under a thickness meter, consisting of a scanner emitting rays which
continuously explores the surface of the film.
This meter is interfaced through a computer to the die whose flexible lip is operated by
60 thermic bolts.
The computer sends a signal to the power panel heating (or cooling) the bolt directing the
section of the lip which corresponds to the anomaly. Opening or closing the flexible lip,
the flow of material increases or decreases bringing the thickness back to the pre-set
degree. The scanner can also send the information to a computer that regulates the speed
of the line determining an increase or a decrease of the thickness.
Then we have the corona treatment, which allows the product to be wetted with inks and
adhesives in order to be printed and glued.
After the corona treatment there is a CCD camera system to detect in real time any film
defect (holes, contaminations, insects, gels and so on...).
A PC manages the whole line, from the feeders to the winder, flashing continuously
production parameters on the screen and registering the most important data.
The EXTEN lamination process is purely based on heat, pressure and chemical affinity between the film and the support (usually nonwoven) without the use of adhesives or solvents. Coextrusion is essential as it gives you the possibility to put a special blend in contact with the support to obtain the requested adhesion meanwhile the other layers are designed according to the variuos customer needs.
Hot-melt lamination process
Based on a "Uniform Fiber Deposition" system, the lamination technology consists in the deposition of milions of adhesive filaments on one substrate, leaving the original nonwoven characteristics totally untouched, for an outstanding laminate softness, drapeability and absorbtion capacity. This technology also allows the laminate to be breathable.
