Bonding Agents for Packaging and Processing

Rebecca Wilmot
Adhesive Selection and Use, Tips
July 6, 2011

We receive a lot of requests for advice in permanent bonding in one or two stages in the context of packaging and processing. The use of bonding agents in these areas is based on a range of practical considerations regarding improving procedures and problem solving. A good example is a replacement parts manufacturer which found that rubber gaskets were often not included or simply weren’t fitted during the installation process.  Simply permanently bonding the gasket was the right solution.

Procedurally, bonding can add productivity and simplify many processes. In another case a glass factory discovered that bonding sheets of glass before cutting improved efficiency and productivity as well as simplifying the workload and reducing the amount of actual work required.

Adhesives can also be used to replace clamping, which can be a multi-stage processing issue. A typical clamping process involves use of a clamp on newly bonded materials, and in the case of one manufacturer the clamping process took 24 hours. This was obviously a rather slow, tedious approach, and the alternative, using an instant adhesive, to replace the clamp. The instant adhesive simply held the bonded parts in place as the epoxy bond cured. The cyanoacrylate instant adhesive allowed immediate packaging. This was a quicker, simpler and easier approach, cutting out the long clamping process and doing away with the step of removing the clamps, producing greater efficiency.

Some materials are well suited to fixture, as well as bonding, like glass. An art glassware company found that using UV curable adhesives it was possible to set the glass components in place using a high intensity spot curing wand. When assembly was finished, floodlights can be used to complete the curing process fully.

In another type of assembly, beveled glass designs, which only use one type of adhesive, were used to both set component pieces of the designs. The single adhesive in this case played two roles:

  1. The adhesive was partly cured during assembly to set the design elements in place.
  2. After assembly, the adhesive was fully cured to bond the finished product completely.

Important: It will be noted that in fine assembly work, particularly using fragile and precision-placement materials, this form of processing also involves very high standards of finished product. This approach to bonding produced quality bonding combined with increased productivity and efficiency.

Another interesting case involved decorative tiling. These tiles are very high quality ceramics. They’re also typically demanding things to install on site. A tile manufacturer discovered that installation could be greatly simplified using an instant adhesive to site the tiles on a mesh backing for installation using adhesive grouting. This is a multi-stage efficiency process, simplifying two stages of operations; both processing and providing a ready-to-install capability for work which if done by installing single tiles is both labour intensive and very cost-inefficient.

It’s always worth considering possibilities for productivity gains with adhesive options. These are just some examples of the various possibilities for innovation and improving packaging and processing by using adhesives as part of the assembly and quality finished product concepts.

For further help and advice, please contact Permabond.

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