Quality assessment of selected hot melt adhesives
Key words:
hot melt adhesive, HMA, hot glue, bulk packaging, cardboard box
Summary
Modern industry, trade, services and logistics could not function properly without proper packaging and transport. Boxes made of corrugated board are most often used for this purpose. In order to fulfill their essential protective function, they must be securely and reliably closed. This is done in a variety of ways, most often using adhesive tapes, sometimes metal staples are also used. These solutions, however, are not without flaws - the tapes are very susceptible to puncturing and cutting, while staples can accidentally damage the packed product or injure the person opening the packaging. These drawbacks are deprived of closing boxes using the so-called hot melt adhesives, based on specially selected thermoplastic polymers.
Thanks to their unique properties, they allow the package to be closed quickly and securely, and their universal properties mean that they can be used in many industries, not only in packaging. This work presents the types, principle of operation and application possibilities of hot melt adhesives, as well as an assessment of the usable quality of selected products available in the market.
dr inż. Marta BIEGAŃSKA
Poznań University of Economics and Business
Institute of Quality Science
Department of Industrial Product Quality and Packaging Development
Aleja Niepodległosci 10, 61-875 Poznań, Poland