Flow Wrappers

A flow wrapper, also called a horizontal flow wrapper, flow wrapping machine or flow pack machine, wraps products in a continuous horizontal film tube and seals each one into a pillow-style pack. Nexus Australia supplies flow wrappers for sale Australia-wide, from an entry-level machine for small producers to a four-servo flow wrapper with recipe changeover and a robotic infeed system, for snacks, confectionery, bakery, wipes, medical consumables and hardware.

Also known as

• Horizontal flow wrapper or horizontal flow wrapping machine
• Flow wrap machine, flow wrap packing machine, flowrap or flow pack machine
• Pillow pack machine or food wrapping machine
• Horizontal form fill seal (HFFS) wrapper, when the film is formed around the product

How a flow wrapper works

Products are fed in a line onto the infeed chain. A reel of printed or plain film is drawn over a forming box that folds it into a tube around the product. A fin seal runs along the bottom of the tube, then rotating end-seal jaws seal and cut between each product, leaving a sealed pillow pack with a crimped seal at each end. Bag length is set from the touchscreen, and a photocell reads the print mark on the film so the graphics land in the same place on every pack.

Flow wrappers in the Nexus range

• Entry-level flow wrapper: a compact flow wrapping machine for small businesses and short runs, with a 4.3 inch touchscreen, bag length indication for quick adjustment, a photocell for film registration and optional feeding systems. The usual first flow wrapper for a bakery, a soap maker or a contract packer moving off hand wrapping.
• Servo flow wrapper with recipe changeover: four servo motors drive the end-seal unit, the infeed chain, film tension and film pull, and every setting is stored per product. Changing between products or film SKUs is a recipe recall on the screen, with almost no mechanical adjustment. Up to 60 packs per minute depending on product and film.
• Flow wrapper with robotic infeed: a delta robot pick and place system picks products from a conveyor or tray and places them onto the flow wrapper infeed, removing the operators who would otherwise hand-load the chain. Suits lines where products arrive unordered or where labour is the constraint.

Types of packs

• Pillow pack: the standard flow wrap with a fin seal underneath and crimped end seals.
• Gusseted pack: folded sides for taller or bulkier products such as bread rolls and multipacks.
• Tray pack: the product sits on a tray or card before wrapping, common for biscuits and bakery items.
• Modified atmosphere pack: gas flushing before sealing to extend shelf life on bakery and fresh products.
• Easy-open and reclose options: tear notches, perforations and zipper film where the pack is opened more than once.

Products flow wrappers are used for

Bakery products (cookies, muffins, bread rolls), snack bars and confectionery, soap bars and bath bombs, cosmetic and cleaning wipes, single-use medical supplies such as gauze and swabs, blister packs of over-the-counter medicines, seed packets, and hardware items. Anything solid, regular in shape and able to be pushed along a chain is a candidate for horizontal flow wrapping. Loose product that pours, such as granules or powder, belongs on a VFFS machine instead. Our guide to food packaging machines for Australian food manufacturers maps bars, biscuits, bags and tubs to the right machine.

Infeed options

• Manual infeed: operators place products between the lugs on the infeed chain. Lowest cost, suits entry-level speeds.
• Automatic conveyor infeed: products arrive spaced from an upstream machine and are timed into the chain.
• Robotic pick and place infeed: a delta robot picks from a bulk or random feed and places into the chain at speed.
• Denester or tray feeder: for products packed on trays or cards before wrapping.

Printing and labelling on a flow wrap line

A flow wrapper printer is normally a thermal transfer overprinter (TTO) mounted on the film feed, which prints best-before dates, batch codes and barcodes onto the film before it wraps the product. A continuous inkjet printer can code the finished pack on the outfeed instead. For a self-adhesive label on top of the pack, a labelling machine sits after the wrapper.

Throughput

Entry-level machines run at speeds suited to short runs and small batches. The servo flow wrapper runs up to 60 packs per minute, and machines are re-designed to suit the application where a different speed or film is required. Speed on any flow wrapper depends on product length, film and seal time, so quote your product dimensions with your target rate.

Flow wrapper versus HFFS pouch machine

A flow wrapper wraps an already-formed solid product in a pillow pack. A horizontal form fill seal (HFFS) pouch machine forms a pouch from film and fills it with product that is dropped or pumped in. If your product is a bar, a roll, a wipe or a tray, you want a flow wrapper. If it is a portion of powder, liquid or pieces going into a shaped pouch, you want HFFS. Both sit within the wider bagging system range. Our guide to flow wrap packaging covers the format in more detail.

Send us your product dimensions, target packs per minute and the film you plan to run, and we will recommend the right flow wrapping machine. Contact Nexus Australia for a quote on a flow wrapper.