CuttingEdgeDesigns

forHorizontalFlowWrapperKnives

Thispapercoversthevarietyofknifecuttingedgestylesavailableforhorizontal
form/fill/sealflowwrappingmachinery(SIG,Doboy,Delta,Cavanna,Tevopharm,
Fuji,Autowrapper,etc.).Thedifferencesbetweenthestylesarediscussed
relativetobothsetupandfunctioninthemachineaswellastheimplicationsof
theresultingcutonthepackage.

StraightKnife

Inthedaysofcellophanethiswasacommonknifeandwasallthatwasrequiredtocutthe
packagingmaterial.Inaddition,becausecellophaneiseasytotear,astraightcutontheendsealdidnot
makeitdifficultforconsumerstoopenthepackages.Today,thistypeofknifeisrarelyseen.

DiagonalKnife

Fromanoperationalstandpointhisisanimprovementofthestraightcutbecausethediagonal
orientationofthecuttingedgeprovidesforeasiercutting.Thisbiasedcuttingactionrequiresless
pressuretomakeacut,which,whencomparedtoastraightedge,makesiteasiertosetupandresults
inlongerpartlife.
Thediagonalorientationofthecutonthepackageisdifficulttodetectandisnotanissuewith
consumers.Again,aswiththestraightknife,cellophanepackageswouldbeeasytoopen.Thisisnot
thecase,however,withOPP(orientedpolypropylene)films,whicharethestandardtodayandarequite
difficulttotear.*IfadiagonalknifeisusedforpackagesmadewithOPPfilmtheconsumerususually
forcedtoeitherpealthesealapartorusesomedevice(teeth?)togainaccesstotheproduct.

*Theproblemispropagating,orstarting,atearinOPPfilm.Oncethetearisstarted,however,thereisverylittle
remainingresistance.Thiscansometimesbealiability,asthetearcancontinuemuchfurtherintothepackage
thanintended.

ZigZagKnife

ThezigzagknifeplayedaleadingroleintheacceptanceofOPPfilmsastheywerebeing
introducedinthelate1960sandearly1970s.Theserratedcutmadebythisknifemakesiteasytotear
thefilmandallowsconsumerstoeasilygettotheproduct.Packagecosmeticsmaybeaconcernwitha
serratedratherthanastraightcut,butitssimplyamatteroffunctionoverform.
Ontheoperationalside,thereareacoupleofpotentialdrawbacks.Becauseoftheincreased
widthandsurfaceareaofthecuttingedge,thezigzagkniferequiresmorepressuretocutthandoesthe
diagonalknife.Thiscanmakesetupmoredifficultandcancausetheknifetobecomedullmorequickly.
Atonetimethiswasbyfarthemostpopularknifestyleforflowwrappers,atleastinNorth
America.Thenextknifeinourdiscussion,however,offersadvantagesthathaveallowedittoreachthe
numberoneposition.

DiagonalZigZagKnife

Thediagonalzigzagknifecombinesthesuperiorfunctionalcharacteristicsofthediagonalknife
withtheeasyopenfeatureofthezigzagcut.Likethestandarddiagonalknife,itrequireslesspressure
tocutthanitsstraightcounterpart,aidinginbothsetupandlongevity.Becauseoftheseadvantages
thisstyleknifehasbeenthemostpopularoverthelast10years,butrecentimprovementsin
manufacturingtechniqueshaveengenderedavariationthatoffersevengreaterbenefits.

MicroEdgeDiagonalZigZagKnife

Thisisthecurrentstateoftheartcuttingedgedesignforhorizontalflowwrapperknives.It
improvesonthefunctionalbenefitsofthestandarddiagonalzigzagbyreducingthewidthofthecutting
edge(measuredpointtopointontheteeth)toapproximately.010(.25mm).Thisfurtherdecreasethe
amountofpressurerequiredtomakeacutandapproachestheregulardiagonalknifeineaseofsetup.
Thepackagecosmeticsareimprovedwiththisknife,astheserratedcutisdifficulttodetectand
looksmuchmorelikeastraightedge.Thisisaccomplishedwithoutsacrificinganyoftheeasyopen
characteristicsinherentwiththezigzag.Infact,itincreasethenumberofpossibletearinitiationpoints
by400%.

ExtremeAngleZigZagKnife

Thisknifeisdesignedforusewithfilmsthathaveunusualresistancetotearpropagation.The
sharperangleoftheteethmakesiteasierfortheconsumertostartatear.Itisavailableinbothstraight
anddiagonalconfigurations,anditsoperationalcharacteristicsaresimilartothestandardzigzags.

SlitNotchKnife

Thisisthefirstofthespecialtycuttingedgesdesignedforsituationswhereitisdesirabletohave
theconsumerbegintotearopenthepackageataspecificlocationontheendseal.Thisparticularstyle
allowstearingonlyatthespecificspotwherethenotchmakesaslitcutinthefilm.Thiscanbedoneon
oneendorbothendsofthepackage.
 Althoughtheknifeworksforitsintendedpurpose,thereareseveraloperationaldrawbacks.It
oftenrequiresextrapressureinordertocuteffectively,makingitmoredifficulttosetupandhavinga
negativeimpactonlongevity.Inaddition,thisstyleknifecanbequiteexpensive.

VNotchKnife

Thevnotchknifealsodirectstheconsumertoopenthepackageataspecificlocation.Instead
ofaslittherewillbeasingleVnotchormultiplenotchesateachendofthepackage.Thefunctional
characteristicsofthisknifearesomewhatbetterthantheslitnotch,butthecostofthepartsisstillhigh.

VariablePitchZigZagKnife

Thisisaneffective,lowercostalternativetoboththeslitnotchandvnotchknives.The
consumerisdirectedbythelargernotchestoopenthepackageataspecificlocation,butisstillableto
tearthefilmifanattemptismadeatthewrongspot.

Copyright 2010 Greener Corporation

Greener Corporation
4 Helmly St.
Bayville, NJ 08721
USA
Telephone: 732-341-3880
Email: custserv@greenercorp.com
Website: www.greenercorp.com