Bonding With No Limits

Nordson adhesive-based bonding solution helps manufacturer fully address numerous deficiencies experienced with ultrasonic bonding – a customer success story.

One of the largest diaper and adult incontinence product manufacturers in Turkey trusted Nordson to provide solutions to address their dissatisfaction with the bonding performance and limitations of their ultrasonic bonding (USB) equipment.

USB technology melts two substrates together to bond them, without the use of an adhesive. USB equipment manufacturers promote long-term savings since there is no consumable (adhesive). USB initial equipment investments are typically higher than adhesive bonding solutions, and the service and maintenance of the equipment is generally more complex than that associated with hot melt adhesive systems.

USB technology has improved, and speed limitations have been largely addressed by rotating horns. Ongoing limitations relate to substrates; adapting to normal variation within a substrate lot run, or limitations on the pairs of substrates that can be combined. Substrates must have similar melt temperatures, and some substrates such as natural fibers (e.g., cotton) do not have a melt point and are thus incompatible with USB.

In this case the manufacturer used USB technology in its new diaper lines (1,000 diapers/minute) for barrier applications; however, several issues occurred.

1. Substrates bonded by the customer’s chosen ultrasonic bonding technology proved to lack the flexibility to accommodate different sizes and patterns
2. Holes appeared in substrates of various basis weights during bonding that resulted in, leakage
3. The USB spare parts usage surpassed the manufacturer’s budget.
   
   

Nordson offered a superior, adhesive bonding-based solution to the customer, leveraging the customer’s existing Nordson production assets. Three existing VersaBlue Plus melters were economically upgraded with additional pumps to expand the system capacity. Nordson then identified an applicator with two TrueCoat modules for the continuous application on the outer barrier and two SpeedCoat modules for intermittent application on the inner barrier with additional different size slot nozzles.

 

The Nordson adhesive-based bonding solution provided the manufacturer with consistent, reliable bonding on the outer sides to solve the leakage issue. The applicator for combined intermittent and continuous applications offered the manufacturer the ability to control the adhesive quantity, the flexibility to accommodate different materials and basis weights, and the versatility to support the diaper production size changes. Lastly, the customer was able to leverage on-hand spare parts common to other Nordson equipment to reduce their maintenance spend considerably.

 

The Nordson Adhesive solution fully addressed numerous deficiencies experienced with ultrasonic bonding in high-speed diaper production for one of Turkey's premier hygienic product manufacturers.

 

To learn more about Nordson solutions for manufacturing disposable hygiene products, please visit nordson.com