The period during which the sealing tools are in contact with the packaging materials to form a heat seal.
Also called: heat-seal dwell time; seal contact time; sealing contact time.
Sealing contact time vs the machine cycle
Not necessarily. True sealing dwell concerns contact with the substrate. A displayed timer can include travel before the webs are pressed together. State the physical start and end events; opening, indexing and other movement can occupy separate parts of the machine cycle.
Compare the time in the actual sealing arrangement, not simply two HMI numbers with the same unit. A laboratory bar-sealing result and a machine cycle need their contact geometry and timing explained. Neither a platen nor rotary design name by itself supplies the effective dwell for the product and format.
Can extra temperature always replace lost dwell time?
Temperature, pressure and contact time interact, but there is no fixed exchange ratio between them. The response depends on the material pair and the seal outcome being assessed.
When speed changes, identify whether true dwell changes and assess the actual material pair at the relevant conditions. Record the resulting seal response and package integrity rather than assuming that the original temperature setting remains sufficient, or that increasing temperature indefinitely is acceptable. Cooling delay is a separate interval from hot sealing contact.