HB Fuller— an American company that provides industrial adhesives, industrial coatings and industrial sealants – launched its first filled hot melt pressure sensitive adhesive (PSA) to address tape and label die-cutting challenges.
The new Swiftmelt 1401-1, exhibited at LabelExpo 2022 in Greater Noida, is said to deliver performance on various types of label stocks and baggage tags while ensuring that bonds do not fail during production, transport, or storage, even at high temperatures.
The industry has been evolving very fast in recent years, and the new product meets the current growing needs of the die-cutting sector of the label industry, as well as the ever-changing demands of label converters, according to the company. The adhesive plays a key role to ensure proper die-cutting. During this process, the adhesive needs to break at the right time, so that the label can be cut in the outlined shape, precisely and accurately. If the adhesive fails to do so, the production line may need to shut down, causing lower productivity for label converters.
Designed by a group of scientists, in collaboration with manufacturers, the addition of Swiftmelt 1401-I to HB Fuller’s portfolio, together with filled thermoplastic hot melts and PSA hot melts, brings differentiated value into the market. This new technology offers high heat resistance, precise die-cutting performance with less bleeding and oozing, and delivers great balance of peel, tack, and cohesion at very fast melt rates, ensuring increased yield, company officials said.
“Label stock materials, in particular release liners, are becoming thinner, mostly to save costs and waste. With substrates and release liners getting ever thinner, die-cutting has become unavoidable and a precision science to the label market,” says Manish Dwivedi, business manager for India flexible materials. “You will see that today, cost reduction also has become another driver for competitiveness, and our filled grade helps optimize the production cost with operational efficiency gains.”
One of the main differences between filled and unfilled hot melt adhesives is that filled adhesives contain the pure adhesive resin, as well as fillers, such as calcium carbonate, which influence processing properties, especially in the label industry. “With that in mind, HB Fuller developed this new filled hot melt PSA, to offer superior die-cutting, less bleeding, and high heat resistance, which are all important requirements for our customers, particularly in some parts of the world where the weather is warm,” reinforces Manish.
This announcement meets the current growing needs of the label industry. The product delivers exceptional performance on various substrates and conditions, making it ideal for general purpose labels, the company says. The new grade is currently being commercialized in India and the sub-continent market.
