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About laminators you want to know
About laminators you want to know
2025-07-23
How Do Laminators Work?
Laminator machines apply a thin plastic cover to paper documents by using pressure, heat, and their internal roller mechanism. In the most common scenario, the paperwork is fed into the machine one page at a time, sandwiched between loose plastic sheets or in lamination pouches.
With most modern pouch laminators, the pre-coated plastic cover has a special extruded adhesive on all its inside surfaces. It is heated under pressure from the rollers to bond tightly together across the back and front surfaces, creating a protective cover and sealing around all four edges.
Some high-end laminating machines can adjust temperature and feed-through speeds for efficient and effective handling of heavy-duty pouches or larger workpieces. In addition, some may feature sensors to automatically detect and reverse misfeeds.
As they perform their heating and pressing function, the laminator’s rollers tend to lose some of their heat as it’s transferred directly into the cardboard carrier and the document pouch - this is why you’ll often have to wait a short time between documents, to allow the rollers to come back up to optimal temperature once again before feeding your next document in. However, most modern laminators heat up very quickly, so there isn’t usually a significant delay required between successive feeds.
What is the difference between Thermal Lamination and Pressure Lamination?
Thermal Lamination:
Thermal or heat activated laminating films are constructed of a layer of polyester base film and a layer of adhesive resin, bonded together. During the lamination process, the adhesive resin is softened or liquefied and permanently bonded to the document. Once liquefied, the adhesive is spread across the surface and with pressure, forced into the pores of the document. The adhesive then hardens as it cools creating a permanent bond between paper and film.
Thermal or heat activated laminating films are constructed of a layer of polyester base film and a layer of adhesive resin, bonded together. During the lamination process, the adhesive resin is softened or liquefied and permanently bonded to the document. Once liquefied, the adhesive is spread across the surface and with pressure, forced into the pores of the document. The adhesive then hardens as it cools creating a permanent bond between paper and film.
Pressure Lamination:
Pressure Sensitive laminating films are often referred to as cold films. The reason is that they require no heat or very limited amount of heat to adhere to any particular document during the laminating or mounting process. The adhesive layer in cold film is constantly in a tacky state since no heat is used in the sealing process (only pressure). This gives the need for a paper or film liner, that keeps the film from adhering to itself when it is rolled. Pressure sensititve laminating films will adhere to almost any substrate but is best used for heat sensitive or previously heat activated materials. These films work great for overlaminating and mounting on such substrates as gator board, foam board, wood, Plexiglass or delicate print materials such as photostats, transparencies, cyberchromes and thermal transfers.
Pressure Sensitive laminating films are often referred to as cold films. The reason is that they require no heat or very limited amount of heat to adhere to any particular document during the laminating or mounting process. The adhesive layer in cold film is constantly in a tacky state since no heat is used in the sealing process (only pressure). This gives the need for a paper or film liner, that keeps the film from adhering to itself when it is rolled. Pressure sensititve laminating films will adhere to almost any substrate but is best used for heat sensitive or previously heat activated materials. These films work great for overlaminating and mounting on such substrates as gator board, foam board, wood, Plexiglass or delicate print materials such as photostats, transparencies, cyberchromes and thermal transfers.
What is the difference between 2 Roll and 4 Roll Laminator?
4 Rollers:
In a 4 roller machine, the front two rollers feed the carrier into the laminator at a uniform speed to guarantee even heat distribution. The second set of rollers, call finishing rollers, stretch the film, eliminating wrinkles and curls at the same time applying pressure, forcing the molten adhesive into the document.
In a 4 roller machine, the front two rollers feed the carrier into the laminator at a uniform speed to guarantee even heat distribution. The second set of rollers, call finishing rollers, stretch the film, eliminating wrinkles and curls at the same time applying pressure, forcing the molten adhesive into the document.
2 Rollers：
In a 2 roller machine, you only have the rear roller that act as both the feed and finishing rollers. Two roller machines are good for smaller applications with films that have a lower polyester/Mylar content. When using a two roller laminator, you must always feed the document through the machine at a slow even speed until the rear rollers grab.
In a 2 roller machine, you only have the rear roller that act as both the feed and finishing rollers. Two roller machines are good for smaller applications with films that have a lower polyester/Mylar content. When using a two roller laminator, you must always feed the document through the machine at a slow even speed until the rear rollers grab.
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