Production of Library Card

How Teslin Cards, Barcode Cards And Key Tags Are Made.

Factor that makes one item (card, key tag or combination card with key tag) better than another.

    1. First and most important is the core stock. The finished product is only as good as the bond between the core stock and the lamination film. If you use paper as a core stock, moisture will wick into the edges and product will separate. If you use synthetic paper, you will solve your moisture problem but just because a core stock is synthetic does not mean it will bond strong enough to the lamination film to make the product last. Teslin is the brand name of synthetic material that bonds up to 10 times stronger than other synthetic material. Teslin is a synthetic material but because a material is call synthetic, does NOT make it Teslin. We are using Teslin and only Teslin as our core stock.
    2. Lamination film are not all the same. As noted below, a 10 mil film can be constructed different ways. The part of the product (card) that protects the core stock is the polyester. You need enough polyester to protect the core stock but also need enough adhesive to penetrate the core stock. Our 10 mil film is constructed of 4 mil of polyester and 6 mils adhesive, producing the correct balance. We give you twice the protection as a manufactured using 2 mils of polyester and 8 mils of adhesive. All lamination film has orientation or curl. Our 4/6 lamination is mapped and match to eliminate the curl and make the card flat and the barcode read better. As part of our standard construction, we put a matte finish on the back of the card to reduce light reflection on the barcode, making the barcode read the first time. The matte finish also serves as a signature area.
    3. Bonding process: The lamination stage or bonding process is where everything comes together to make the final product. Our inks are formulated to be printed on Teslin and bond to hot melt lamination. We laminate at speeds that allow the adhesive to melt and penetrate into the Teslin to form a strong physical and chemical bond.

Core Stock is 10 mil Teslin

Teslin substrate is waterproof, resists abrasion and tearing, and stands up to a wide range of chemicals. It is water, tear and abrasion resistant.

Teslin substrate forms adhesive bonds as much as 10 times stronger than those of other substrates—requiring no edge seals to produce durable, secure products.

10 mil Teslin is the core stock we use on all our products.

Production of Teslin Library Card

 

Hot Melt Lamination

Hot met lamination is produced by taking polyester film and coating it with an adhesive.

The films thickness is expressed in the total thickness of the polyester and adhesive. The most common constructions of 10 mil film are listed below.

2 mils polyester -represented by blue and 8 mil adhesive-represented by yellow, commonly called 2/8.

 

Production of Teslin Library Card

4 mils polyester -represented by blue and 6 mil adhesive-represented by yellow, commonly called 4/6.

How Teslin Cards, Barcode Cards And Key Tags Are Made

As you can see, in both examples, we have film that is 10 mil thick but the 4/6 film has twice the polyester, which is the part of the card that protects the printing and barcode. We use 4/6 film that is mapped and matched to lay flat in addition to being twice as thick.

 

Production of a Teslin cards.

The Teslin core stock is printed front and back with desired copy and barcode. The sheets are printed with multiple cards (or desired product) on a sheet.

The next step is to bond the Teslin core stock to the hot melt lamination.

The lamination is in a roll form and will have 1 roll of lamination for the front of the card and 1 roll of  lamination for the back of the card. The printed Teslin sheet is inserted between the two rolls of lamination.

The heat turns the solid hot met adhesive to a liquid and the pressure forces the adhesive into the Teslin core stock where it forms a physical and chemical bond. The strength of the bond is determined by materials, heat, pressure and time the materials are under the heat and pressure.

Once the film and Teslin have been bonded, they are cooled and cut into sheets.

The sheets are inserted to a die cutter that cut the sheet into individual items. The items can be cards, key-tag, card with 1 key-tag or any item desired. It is all determined by the die cut.

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