Laminators
I use the laminator at home at least ten times a month and there are quite a few terms/abbreviations I see on the laminator and wonder what they mean. I still get to use them properly though without jamming the laminator. So, that makes me a professional laminator haha!
Anyways, after consistently using the laminator about 120 times in a year, I have come to understand a lot of terminologies around laminating pictures, plastic, papers e.t.c and I will be sharing with you detailed definitions about these terms.
I hope you get to enjoy the blog content and eventually become used to abbreviations written on laminators.
ADHESION
In a laminator, adhesion is achieved by gluing two or more strips of flexible backing material together with an adhesive dissolved in a solvent (if an adhesive tape is used then the process is called complexing). Film, paper, or aluminum foil can be used to make these strips.
To make an extra strong lamination, the adhesive is applied to the least absorbent strip, which is subsequently bonded to the second strip by high pressure imposed by cylinders (heated if required). This lamination can have two (duplex), three (triplex), or more layers.
Applications:
The look and characteristics of the backing materials are improved using lamination processes. The type of glue chosen is mostly determined by the product’s intended usage. Various methods, such as calandering, flat laminating, Hotmelt® laminating, and so on, can be used to cover as many applications as feasible.
Laminated goods can be made as log rolls or strips coiled on a reel, depending on the needs of the buyer. The customer may supply the material or ADDEV Materials may acquire it as needed.
Abrasion Resistance
The capacity of materials and structures to tolerate abrasion is referred to as abrasion resistance. It is a friction-based process of wearing down or rubbing away. This capacity aids in the preservation of the material’s original structure and appearance. Mechanical wear is resisted by abrasion resistance.
In environments where wear is a concern, abrasion-resistant materials are helpful for both moving and stationary elements.
Concrete’s abrasion resistance is closely related to its compressive strength. Abrasion resistance is higher in strong concrete than in weak concrete. A number of test methods may be used to assess the abrasion resistance of materials and structures.
Absorbency
Absorbency is the measurement of how well a substance or product absorbs and retains a liquid, most often water or oil. Rate and capacity are the two most critical aspects of absorbency. The rate of absorption is a measurement of how quickly a certain amount of liquid percolates through a substance.
The absorptive capacity of a substance is a measurement of how much liquid it can store. It can be measured in either area (grams of liquid per square meter of product) or weight (grams of liquid per kilogram of product) (grams of liquid per gram of product).
The capacity is mostly determined by how extra liquid is evacuated after the product has been saturated. The absorptive capacity of paper and other materials can be increased via embossing.
Adhesive
In a heated laminating procedure, this is melted and forms the binding between the paper and the plastic. The sticky side is generally hazy or drab, but when it has been heated, it becomes transparent.
Adhesion Promoting Primer
Adhesion promoting primer is a coating that makes it easier for an adhesive to adhere things together.
Primers are typically used for undergrounds that are tough to coat and must be adhered to, varnished, or otherwise coated. The adhesion strength and adhesion firmness, which refers to a coating’s ability to resist mechanical separation from the underground, characterize the primer’s performance.
For primer performance, there are several DIN and ISO standards. Varnishes gain higher resistance to chemicals and other environmental impacts by increasing the adhesion hardness.
Primers are now utilized for a variety of purposes. Functionalized silanes or other organometallic linkages (titanates or zirconates) are used to coat the glass. Coating plastics, particularly polyolefin, present a unique problem for a primer (also called plastic spray paint primer).
Plastics are used in many applications. Polypropylene or polyethylene are materials used in the manufacture of automobiles, and are commonly seen in bumpers.
Aqueous-based Adhesive
An aqueous-based adhesive is one in which the principal solution is water rather than synthetic solvents.
We need to know what aqueous-based adhesives are before we can go into depth about them. An adhesive, often known as glue, is a liquid or semi-liquid combination that is used to adhere two surfaces together.
Polymers are used in almost all adhesives, and they can be manufactured from natural or synthetic sources. Depending on the type of glue and the sector you operate in, adhesives are also particularly made for certain uses.
Aqueous-based adhesives are available as pre-mixed solutions or as dry powders that makers and distributors must combine with water to get the desired adhesive characteristics.
When water evaporates from the glue line or is absorbed by the substrate, certain qualities are acquired. As a result, while using aqueous-based adhesives, it’s critical to employ at least one permeable substrate.
Batching
Batching is a technique for joining comparable bolts of material to form a big roll for processing.
Bias
Bias is a woven fabric’s orientation, commonly at 45 degrees to its warp and weft threads.
Bleed-through
It’s when a liquid soaks through both sides of the cloth.
When it comes to bleeding, most marker painters have reasonable expectations. The bulk of papers will ultimately bleed unless they are laminated with a unique barrier in the middle (seep through to the backside or to the next sheet). There are a few things you can do to assist control bleed:
- Use marker paper: Papers created expressly for use with markers are often made with the necessary characteristics to function as a barrier and allow for additional layers before bleeding begins (or at least before the marker seeps into the sheet underneath).
- If you’re not using Marker paper, a thicker/heavier piece of paper will be more likely to withstand many layers of the marker without bleeding. Markers may be used on Bristol, Heavyweight Drawing, and Mixed Media. Papers of a lower weight and that aren’t designed for markers, such as Sketch (less than 100gsm), are more likely to bleed.
- Use a ‘barrier’ paper: Many experienced marker artists realize that while working with several layers, the pigment has to go somewhere (through the paper). This is why they utilize barrier paper, which is just a sheet of scratch paper placed beneath the page in progress to protect the following sheet. Marker artists will retain the same barrier paper in their pad throughout their whole project. Barrier papers may take on a life of their own, displaying the artist’s journey with his or her markers.
Bond strength
The anchoring strength of two or more laminated materials is referred to as bond strength.
Cohesion
When the adhesive strength is greater than the material strength, cohesion occurs inside a layer of a multilayer construction.
Color shift
After processing, color shift refers to a shift in color intensity. Among the various wrap films, color shift wrap film has been one of the most eye-catching. But keep in mind that to be stylish and stunning, you usually need something. During the installation of color shift film, you may need to pay special care.
A multi-layered film is characterized as a color shift film. Because an extra layer (color or lamination) is added to generate the color shift effect, it is frequently slightly thicker than regular wrap film.
Color stability
The ability to maintain color constancy following processing or exposure to external circumstances such as sunlight is known as color stability.
Contamination
Contamination is the presence of an unwanted substance in or on a material, such as dirt or loose threads.
Copolymer
A copolymer is a mixture of two or more polymers that are used in the formulation of an adhesive to improve its performance. These two adhesives are more aggressive, melting at lower temperatures.
When a more aggressive laminate film is required for better adhesion to the substrate in higher ink coverage applications, the co-polymer laminate film is employed. Low-melt and Nap Lam II are two other designations for co-polymer film, depending on the producer.
Core
The cardboard tube that is used to roll up material is known as the core. A soft magnetic core with a rectangular shape is known as a laminated core.
Because eddy current losses are minimal, it has been specially engineered to carry massive input and output power transmissions. Power transformers, Distribution transformers, and Isolation transformers all employ this material.
Curl
Curl refers to a laminated product’s tendency to roll up or down at its edges as a result of extreme heat or stress.
Delamination
Delamination is the separation of two materials that were previously bound together either thermally or chemically. Delamination is a type of material failure that occurs when two adjacent layers or numerous layers inside a laminate or construct are separate.
Denier
The weight and fineness of fiber strands are referred to as denier. It’s also a unit of measurement for each of the individual threads that make up textiles and other materials, based on their fiber thickness.
Dimensional stability
The capacity to keep its shape throughout processing is referred to as dimensional stability.
Dwell time
The period of time that laminating materials are exposed to heat and/or pressure for bonding is known as dwell time.
Emulsion
An emulsion is a combination of two or more typically incompatible liquids (unmixable or unblendable).
Encapsulate
Encapsulation is the process of wrapping or completely sealing items together so that the interior substance is no longer visible.
Flush cut
Flush cutting is the process of reducing a material’s edge to obtain a record-like edge finish.
Filing yarn (Weft)
In a weaving process, the filling yarn (Weft) is the yarn that is weaved back and forth through the warp yarn.
Gauge
Gauge refers to a material’s overall thickness, which is commonly measured in thousandths of an inch (mil).
Glossy
Glossy refers to a film’s surface that is glossy or glassy in appearance.
Lamination
Lamination is a product created by thermally or adhesively glueing two or more layers together.
Leader
A cloth, paper, or film used to thread a machine to prevent damage to a customer’s material is referred to as a leader.
Master roll
The phrase “master roll” refers to a produced roll from which smaller rolls are cut. A master roll, also known as a “Mother Reel” or “Mill Roll,” refers to the bigger rolls on which thermal laminate films are made. The process of reducing a master roll to workable sizes is known as slitting or converting.
Matte
Having a dull, opaque, or grainy surface or look, is frequently preferred in settings requiring a suave or sophisticated image.
Matte surfaces are also available on some types of laminating film and are good for reducing glare and increasing readability. Write-on surface with a somewhat gritty texture; some matte surfaces allow pencil, pen, or permanent marker.
Micron
A micron is a unit of thickness measurement, with 25 microns equaling 1 mil (or 0.001″).
Mil
It refers to the thickness of most lamination films and is equal to around 1/40th of a millimetre (0.0254 mm) as a unit of measurement. The thickness of the film increases as the mil increases.
MSI
The shorthand for thousands of square inches (Roman numeral M) (SI). MSI is the industry’s most typical unit for buying and selling thermal laminating films.
NIP
In a laminating machine, NIP refers to the contact rollers that are used to glue materials together.
Nonwoven
Nonwoven is a textile that is neither woven nor knitted but is created by randomly bonding fibers together using chemicals and heat.
Peel strength
Peel strength is a measurement of the adhesive’s strength, which is usually done with a resistance tester and recorded in grams or pounds.
Polymer
A polymer, such as polyethylene or nylon, is a high-molecular compound created by the addition of smaller molecules to form a resin.
Primer
A primer is the first coat of a coating that is applied to a base surface to seal it, such as the sealer used on a wall before applying a wallcovering adhesive.
Pressure Sensitive Adhesive
A clear base film, usually polyester, is coated on both sides with the same and different adhesives. One side of the adhesive is usually bound to a single print or print media, while the other side can be utilized to stick to several surfaces.
A release liner is included with the most pressure-sensitive adhesives to make application easier. Depending on the use, pressure-sensitive adhesives might be permanent or removable.
PVC (Vinyl)
PVC (Vinyl) is a generic word for polyvinyl chloride, a multi-purpose film used in laminating and a variety of other processes and products.
Release Liner
When wrapping sticky adhesives, such as pressure-sensitive, a release liner is a paper that is normally coated with silicone on one side.
Saturation
In printing, saturation refers to the vividness or degree of color density. The inability to absorb any further liquids in chemical terms.
Selvage
The excess edge of a cloth is called selvage, and it is usually finished to avoid unravelling.
Solvent
A solvent is a liquid that has the ability to dissolve another material. Water, for example, is a salt solvent.
Splice
Splices are the points on a laminating film roll where two webs of laminating film are joined together as a result of a master roll change during the manufacturing process.
Surface Treatment
The use of electrical or chemical treatment to enhance the surface of a film is known as surface treatment.
Textured Surface
In or on the surface of a laminate sheet, textured laminates frequently have a surface pattern created by a varnish or embossing process. The most popular textured laminate designs are linen and leather.
Thermal Bonding
Thermal bonding is a technique for joining materials without the use of adhesives.
Tunneling
When one laminated substance, generally a film, splits from the other, a horizontal or vertical pocket is created.
Warp Yarn
The longitudinal strands in a weaving operation on a loom are known as the warp yarn.
Web
The term “web” refers to how a material is routed through a coating or laminating process.
Weft
In a weaving operation, the weft yarn is weaved back and forth through the warp yarn. See Yarn for Filling.
Wetting
A phrase used to describe how uniformly a liquid covers a film is wetting. The more moist the coating is, the more evenly it will dry.