Sleeves can be applied manually or by machine. Fully automatic applications work on an “endless tubing” method. The cutting system depends on line speed: low speed (<250 per minute) must be cut by guillotine knife.
  
Klöckner Pentaplast films do not require pre-treatment for print adhesion, however the choice of ink system is important.
- Gravure Printing is widely used because it allows you to print complex designs. It requires spirit ester inks, thinned with mixtures of ethyl acetate and alcohols.
- Flexographic Printing is another option. Solvent-based inks require different ink resins, thinned with mixtures of ethyl acetate and alcohols. Water- or UV-based inks are applied directly to the film surface, after corona-treating the film prior to printing.
- Drying Process has no draw back. Temperature settings depend on printing speed and the length of the drying zone.
Tubes can be formed either by gluing the seam or by ultrasonic welding, but gluing is widely preferred because of its faster processing speed.
The best glue-solvent mixture depends on:
- Solvent application/machinery
- Production line parameters, such as speed, solvent quantity, etc.
- Polymer
- Temperature of film, solvent, and ambient temperature
The shrinking process can be controlled by a number of factors:
- Beam temperature of the infrared radiation in the tunnel
- Hot-air flow for hot-air tunnels
- Steam flow in the steam tunnel
For best shrink results in steam tunnels, we recommend ~90°C [210°F] maximum temperature.
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