Stretch Film

S T R E T C H W R A P P I N G F I L M

Stretch wrap or stretch film is a highly stretchable plastic film that is wrapped around items. The elastic recovery keeps the items tightly bound. In contrast, shrink wrap is applied loosely around an item and shrinks tightly with heat. It is frequently used to unitize pallet loads but also may be used for bundling smaller items. Types of stretch film include bundling stretch film, hand stretch film, extended core stretch film, machine stretch film and static dissipative film.

Advantages:-
In pallet unitizing, stretch wrap can have several functions:

improved stability of products or packages, forming a unit load
more efficient handling and storage of unit loads
some degree of dust and moisture protection
some degree of tamper resistance and resistance to package pilferage
some degree of sun protection (UV stretch wraps)
extend shelf life of certain foods

Types & Application:-
Manual (or Hand) Wrappers:

Extended core: An extension of the film's core serves as a handle for wrapping; this type of wrapper offers little stretch control and is hard on hands.
Mechanical brake: A simple structure supports a film roll and a mechanical brake system provides resistance creating stretch of the film.[2]
Pole wrappers: Similar to the mechanical brake system, but the roll and brake are at the end of an extended pole, creating an ergonomic design which eliminates the need to bend to wrap the bottoms of loads and strain to reach the tops of loads.
Prestretch hand wrappers. One-hand-operated wrapping tool with a mechanical pre stretch achieved by 2 guiding rollers for the stretch film with different speeds.

Semi-Automatic Wrappers:

Turntable wrappers: The load to be wrapped sits on a turntable which spins the load relative to the film roll, which is housed in a carriage which can move up and down a fixed "mast". Stretch is achieved by rotating the load at a faster rate than the film is fed.
orbital wrappers: The film is housed in a carriage on a vertical ring, the load is fed horizontally through the eye of the rotating ring, applying film to the load. A variation of an orbital stretch wrapper is a horizontal ring system, in which the load remains still while a horizontal ring is rotated around the load and moves up and down vertically relative to the load, similar to a rotary arm stretch wrapper.
Rotary arm wrappers: In this system, the load remains still while a rotating arm turns around it wrapping the load. This system is used for light loads or for speeds which would otherwise cause the load to topple due to high rotation speeds.

Automatic Wrappers:

Turntable wrappers: The load to be wrapped sits on a turntable which spins the load relative to the film roll, which is housed in a carriage which can move up and down a fixed "mast". Stretch is achieved by rotating the load at a faster rate than the film is fed.
Rotary arm wrappers: In this system, the load remains still while a rotating arm turns around it wrapping the load. This system is used for light loads or for speeds which would otherwise cause the load to topple due to high rotation speeds.
Rotary ring wrappers: The film is housed in a carriage on an horizontal ring in which the load remains static while the horizontal ring is rotating around the load and moves up and down vertically relative to the load, similar to a rotary arm stretch wrapper. The rotary ring technology is really a more balanced system with less wear and maintenance than the other available wrapping technologies. These wrappers are capable to reach the highest production capacities (up to 160 pallets/hour).
Automatic wrappers are generally a variant of a semi-automatic system. Automatic wrappers include a conveyor system to automatically load the wrapping machine and automatic systems to apply, seal, and cut the film.