IC*STAR®: New ways in woven bag production
Higher bottom strength, material savings, and lower maintenance – welding polypropylene fabric bags with a closure strip instead of sewing them brings significant advantages in production and application and is environmentally friendly.
With the IC*STAR® concept, developed and implemented by Starlinger and STATEC BINDER, needle breaks, puncture holes or oil traces on the sack fabric are things of the past. Unlike sewing, the IC*STAR® process brings significant material savings in sack production, meaning less raw material – in this case, polypropylene – is needed. Sack manufacturers subsequently benefit from lower costs, and less CO2 is emitted into the environment. The material savings result from the elimination of seam allowances for the bottom and top closure seam and the fact that lighter fabric can be used due to the higher strength of the sack bottom. Moreover, IC*STAR® bags are completely sealed with this type of closure – a considerable advantage when, for example, packaging fine powdery materials that would otherwise escape through the holes pierced by the sewing needle and cause dust development. Depending on the filling material, this could be a health hazard. The oil-free production process makes IC*STAR® bags also suitable for packaging food.
To weld sacks – the production concept of the future
IC*STAR® bags are produced on the Starlinger sack conversion line multiKON KX. The conversion line is equipped with the sealTEC bottom closure module, developed by Starlinger together with STATEC BINDER. Instead of running through a sewing machine, in the IC*STAR® process, the bags pass through a welding apparatus, where a coated closure strip is welded onto the sack bottom in a continuous process using hot air. No adhesive is required in this case. The top of the sack remains open and can be closed by welding with a closure strip or sewing after filling on the filling line. The sealTEC module requires less maintenance compared to a sewing machine and consumes significantly less spare and wear parts. If bags are equipped with gussets, these are secured by sewing as a first step before welding the closure strip in the second step.
With this new method, both coated and uncoated IC*STAR® bags with/without inliner can be produced in an efficient and material-saving process.
