unburden

1 free or relieve (someone) of a burden

2 take the burden off; remove the burden from; "unburden the donkey" [syn: disburden] [ant: burden]

English

Pronunciation

• Rhymes: -ɜː(r)dən

Verb

1. To free from burden, or relieve from trouble.

Anagrams

• unburned

"Shrinkwrapped" redirects here. For the album, see Shrinkwrapped (album).

Shrink wrap, also shrinkwrap or shrink film, is a material made up of polymer plastic film. When heat is applied to this material it shrinks tightly over whatever it was covering.

Shrink wrap is commonly used as an overwrap on many types of packaging: CDs, DVDs, cartons, books, beverage cans, large appliances, pallet loads, etc. It can be the primary covering for some foods such as cheese and meats. It is also used to cover boats after manufacture and for winter storage.

Heat-shrink tubing is used to seal electric wiring.

Shrink bands are applied over parts of packages for tamper resistance or labels. It can also combine two packages or parts.

Composition

The most commonly used shrink wrap is polyolefin. It is available in a variety of thicknesses, clarities, strengths and shrink ratios. The two primary films are either crosslinked, or non crosslinked. Other shrink films include PVC and several other compositions. Coextrusions and laminations are available for specific mechanical and barrier properties for shrink wrapping food.

Current trends are to improve film properties which may lead to reduced caliper (source reduction) and to improve process efficiency (cost and energy savings).

Manufacture

A shrink film can be made to shrink in one direction (unidirectional or mono-directional) or in both directions (bidirectional).

Films are stretched when they are warm to orient the molecules from their initial random pattern. Cooling the film sets the film's characteristics until it is reheated: this causes it to shrink back toward its initial dimensions.

Use

Shrink wrap is applied over or around the intended item, often by automated equipment. It is then sent through a heat tunnel or oven for shrinking. Heat guns are also used for large items.

Shrink wrap can be supplied in several forms. Flat rollstock can be wrapped around a product but Centerfolded film is by far the most popular, supplied on a roll the plastic is folded in half: product is placed in the center portion, the remaining three edges are sealed to form a bag, and the package then heated which causes the bag to shrink and conform to the product placed in the bag.Less popular are the pre-formed Shrink bags[plastic bags]] with one end open: the product is placed in the bag, sealed, and sent for heat shrinking.

See also

• Packaging
• Stretch wrap
• Shrink wrap contract, legal term
• Shrink Rap (disambiguation)

References

• Brody, A. L., and Marsh, K, S., "Encyclopedia of Packaging Technology", John Wiley & Sons, 1997, ISBN: 0-471-06397-5

alleviate, be light, break bulk, clear, disburden, discharge, disembarrass, disencumber, dump, ease, have little weight, kick the beam, lighten, lose, make light, make lighter, off-load, reduce weight, relieve, rid, set at ease, shake off, throw off, unballast, unfreight, unlade, unload, unpack, unship, weigh lightly