Plastic Packaging Forming Methods

Polymers

Extruder

Plastic Packaging Materials

 Common thermoplastic forming methods
• The extruder has the functions of
• Extrusion process compression, mixing, melting, puffing
and molding.
– Profile extrusion
• The cavity of the extruder can be divided
– Film & Sheet extrusion into 3 zones (Feeding, Compression,
– Blown film extrusion Melting), each zone can be heated by
steam or electric, or by extrusion friction
– Co-extrusion to achieve the purpose of cooking
• Extrusion blow molding materials, in the cavity under the action of
high temperature and high pressure.
• At the end of the extrusion chamber, the
• Injection molding molten material is extruded through the
die hole of the template under the action of
high pressure.

• Injection blow molding • Due to the sudden drop of pressure, the

water vapor rapidly expands and
dissipates, causing the product to form a
porous structure (Agriculture raw
• Thermoforming method materials), and also expands the material
(Plastics).
Typical Extruder
 a. Profile extrusion
• A shape of constant cross section (a profile) can be extruded by forcing
polymer melt through a shaped orifice in a die placed at the exit port
• A die may be a metal plate with a round hole drilled in to it and in this
case extrudate can be a round rod of approximately the hole’s diameter
• Placing suitable terpedo-shaped mandrel in the die exit permits
extrusion of a hollow pipe or tube
• The tube obtained can be made in to collapsible tube for packaging
products
• Product can also be used as glass thermometer tube, drill-bit tubes,
confectionary containers, semi solid foods and other novelty
containers
• Tooling cost is low since the process takes place at relatively low
pressure
 Profile extruder

Polygon collapsible tubes

 b. Film & Sheet Extrusion
• It is an application of profile extrusion, but uses a die with a slot orifice

• The dies have a narrow opening between die lips through which the plastic
melt is extruded in to a thin film

• The die can be a meter or more wide

• The film is immediately cooled and solidified on chill rolls

• Depending on thickness the end product may be called film or sheet

• As per ASTM, a film is having thickness ≤ 10 mil (0.01 in= 0.25 mm=250 μ)

• Film product formed by this process is referred to as cast film

• Thicker sheets are die cut and folded in to carton type construction similar to
paper board cartons

• Thinner extruded films are used alone or laminated with other materials in a
varieties of flexible packaging applications
Sheet & film extrusion process

Slot orifice
 c. Blown film Extrusion
• Plastic film can also be manufactured by extruding the polymer through a circular die
in to a closed circular bubble and expanding the bubble with air

• Here the material is extruded upward and by pulling the inflated bubble upward
and continuously extruding more plastic, a continuous seamless tube of thin film is
created

• Air flow along the outside of the bubble provides cooling and air cushion

• After the film is cooled it is flattened in a collapsing frame and wound in to rolls

• The bubble can be wind up as a seamless tube or it can cut to length and sealed at
one end to make seamless plastic bags

• Alternatively it can be slit and rolled in to one or several flat rolls of film

• This blown film process is used to make nearly all PE and other films

• This method can produce very wide sheets (2 m dia bubble), when slit open can form
in to 6 meter wide film

• It would be impractical to make a cast film die of this width

Blown film forming process
 Orientation of plastic films
• The properties of cast & blown film and sheets can be improved by physically orienting the
polymer molecules

• Cast sheet is oriented in the machine direction by being pulled away faster than it is being
extruded, thus stretching it in the machine direction

• This is usually accomplished by passing the cast film through series of rollers, each roll rotating
progressively faster than the previous roll

• Cross or transverse direction orientation is done in a tenter frame

• Clips travelling down diverging tracks grasp the film along each edge and stretch it in the cross
direction up to about 7 times its original cast width

• Films oriented in two directions is said to have biaxial orientation

• Oriented films are heat stabilized by keeping them at elevated temperature for a brief time

• Blown film is oriented by adjusting the inflation ratio and take away speed relative to the tube
forming rate

• Blown film cannot be oriented to the extent of that of cast film, however the biaxial orientation is
well balanced
 Film orientation process

Shrink sleeves and labels.

Impart thermal shrinkage

Plastic film and sheet are typically oriented in the following ways, depending on the manufacturer’s objectives:

Machine-direction orientation :Plastic film is heated and uniaxially stretched in the machine direction over a series of
rollers. Example of how it’s used: To improve tensile strength in adhesive tape and decorative ribbon.

Transverse orientation: Plastic film is heated and uniaxially stretched in the transverse (or cross) direction on a tenter
frame. Example of how it’s used: To impart thermal shrinkage characteristics in shrink sleeves and labels.

Biaxial orientation: Plastic film is heated and stretched in the machine and then transverse direction. Example of how it’s
used: To improve impact strength in food trays.
 d. Co-Extrusion
• Both cast and blown film extrusion dies can be designed
to be fed from more than one extruder, thus processing a
sheet composed of two or more different materials

• Co-extrusion system feeding as many as seven different

layers through one die block is possible

• High polymer viscosity limits the mixing of the extruded

layer so they exist as separate layers in the finished
product

• Most co-extrusion is done to combine the performance

advantages of two dissimilar materials
Co-extrusion process

Flexible Packaging Materials

Retort Pouch
 2. Extrusion blow molding
• Thermoplastic bottles are made by one of the two processes:
• Extrusion blow molding or
• Injection blow molding

• As the name indicates, EBM combines extrusion with blowing step

• The common sequence of operations are

– Hollow plastic tube or parison is extruded
– While in soft & formable state, the parison is captured between the mating halves
of bottle mold
– Air is blown in to the hollow parison stretching it to conform mold walls
– The newly formed bottle is held in the mold unit till it cools sufficiently to retain its
shape

• EBM can accommodate many creative designs, including bottle with

handles, two part containers, container with measuring chambers etc

• PE, PP and PVC accounts for majority of extrusion blown molded bottles

• Majority of detergent, oil and other household chemical bottles are made by
EBM
Extrusion blow molding process
 3. Injection molding
• It uses powerful extruder with a capability to inject precise
amount of resin in to a fully enclosed mold

• Very high hydraulic pressure drives hot, viscous molten

material through a chilled passages of part mold and fill the
cavity before the plastic solidifies

• The process requires substantial mold that will not flex or

move under extreme temp. and pressure

• It requires mold mass and complex tooling thus costliest

plastic forming methods

• It is a leading method of manufacturing of closures, wide

mouthed tubs, jewel boxes and other complex dimensional
shapes
Injection molding process

Containers

Plastic Household by
Injection Molding process

Closures

Fully enclosed cavity mold

 4. Injection blow molding
• Injection blow molding combines injection molding and
blow molding

• Instead of extruding a parison as in EBM, a pre-form is

injection molded

• Injection molding of a pre-form allows more exact

control over material distribution than extruding

• After pre-form injection cycle, the pre-form still

retained on the core-pin is transformed to the blow
molding station

• The final blowing operation is similar to extrusion blow

molding
Injection blow molding process
 5. Thermoforming method
• In this method, the plastic films/sheets are heated so as to make
it soft and pliable below the melting point

• This pliable sheet is formed in to different shapes by mechanical

means i.e. with vacuums and pressure

• Since molding temperature and pressure are very low,

thermoform molds are economical

• Usually co-extrusion and laminated sheets are thermoformed in

to different shapes
Thermoforming method
Thank You