GB/T 24709-2009: China's Shrink Wrapping Machine Standard Sets a Quality Benchmark for Heat-Shrink Packaging Equipment

Manufacturers and buyers of shrink wrapping equipment now work from a single national reference point. The national standard "Shrink Wrapping Machine" (GB/T 24709-2009) was released on 15 November 2009 and entered formal implementation on 1 July 2010, having been organised and drafted under the leadership of the National Packaging Machinery Standardization Technical Committee.

The document addresses terminology and definitions, model designation, types and basic parameters, alongside requirements, test methods, inspection rules, and marking, packaging, transport and storage provisions. In terms of scope, it takes in every category of shrink wrapping machine that relies on heat-shrink film and does not use flame heating to achieve the shrink wrap, serving sectors that range from pharmaceuticals, food, daily chemicals, fine chemicals and building materials to stationery, hardware and electrical appliances, and tobacco.

On the technical side, the standard first classifies the structural types of shrink wrapping machines before laying down limits across a series of performance areas: the heating device's temperature adjustment range and heat-up behaviour; the thermal stability and heat recovery capability of the tunnel temperature; control of the temperature deviation inside the tunnel; temperature requirements on the tunnel's outer surface; sealing and cutting length error of the film; the damage rate of the packaged material; and the qualification rate of finished packages. It also covers materials and components, appearance quality, electrical safety and safety protection. Each performance index is matched by a defined test method.

Since the national standard Shrink Wrapping Machines (GB/T24709-2009) was issued and implemented, it has provided equipment manufacturers and all relevant parties with a basis for producing shrink wrapping machines and a criterion for judging equipment quality. It will guide and regulate the development of the domestic shrink wrapping machine industry, has positive significance for improving the general-purpose and serialised production of such equipment and their economic returns, and will promote the healthy and orderly development of the industry.

——This article is reprinted from China Packaging Network (pack.cn), original link: http://news.pack.cn/show-362216.html