Cutting edge technology for the kitchen
Clamason Industries provides an engineering solution to an everyday problem – how to easily cut plastic cling film or aluminium foil from a roll purchased for either commercial or domestic catering. Or indeed to cut silver foil wraps with one hand whilst selectively colouring hair in the salon.

The brief required the product to have the flexibility to cut any type of plastic film currently available, which turned out to be very demanding. PVC, Polyolefin and Polyethylene films exhibit markedly different strain during the cutting process (change in sample length divided by original length of sample giving a quantifiable measurement of the “stretchiness” of the material). This was one of the driving factors in the design of the blade.

Foil, whilst significantly easier to cut than film, adds an extra dimension to the cutting mechanism as the material thickness (up to 18 microns) redefines the required tolerances during the mating of the cutting profile.

Accordingly Clamason manufactures 15,000m a month of 0.2mm gauge blade in 301 grade stainless steel for World patented, self-cutting disposable dispensers manufactured by Wrap Film Systems Ltd of Telford.

The design team, in conjunction with Clamason, specially designed the pitch, angle and depth of the blade for optimum cutting and the retaining barbs on its rear edge for force fitting into plastic extrusion. Clamason supplies Wrap Film Systems with a standard blade for all applications on custom-designed reels for automated assembly. The target rate for the high-speed assembly process is one box every two seconds. An inner plastic core (reducing the internal diameter of the roll allows for a more compact product) holds the film or foil in an extruded plastic casing with injection moulded end caps.

The blade has been incorporated into a range of sizes of the disposable and recyclable plastic dispenser to accommodate various widths, lengths and thicknesses. The blade also acts as a structural member, stiffening the lid section without the need for excessively thick extrusion section. This is essential for the larger dispenser sizes where the cutting profile should meet the film at the same time across the full length of the dispenser. The user pulls out sufficient film or foil to cover food or plate and then closes the lid to cut the material. The blade is safely housed in a deep channel to prevent accidents.