Folding and Holding It Together

Sophisticated and versatile folding and gluing equipment keeps converters out of sticky situations.

by Kate Sharon

IN PACKAGING'S DEMANDING market segments, there is no room for poor quality, low productivity, or high operating costs.

With that in mind, folder/gluer manufacturers have committed themselves to developing new equipment and refining older technology that enables converters to keep up with their customers' challenging and strict quality requirements, as well as provide them with the means to cut costs.

Makereadies and changeovers are two areas where folder/gluers afford converters the opportunity to save money. "In today's highly competitive market, companies are looking for ways to cut costs in order to better serve their customers," said Chris J. Lee, marketing director of Presswerx Inc. (Forney, Texas). "Some cost-cutting measures that should be considered are quicker makereadies and higher production speeds, while at the same time maintaining low spoilage."

To hasten makeready, Lee says, folder/gluers should be equipped with digital readouts that indicate the carrier positions once the job has been set. This capability enables operators to record all the carrier positions for reference when running the same job in the future.

Another cost-cutting measure, Lee suggests, is automated packing equipment. He asks, "What good is a folder/gluer designed to run a job in excess of well over 100,000 blanks per hour only to be held back because the packing personnel can only manage 35,000 blanks per hour?" Automated packing technology permits folder/gluers to be used at optimum speeds, thus increasing production rates and lowering labor costs.

There are other ways that converters can save a dime or two. According to American International Machinery, Inc. (AIM, Oak Creek, Wis.), while converters face many challenges to getting the most out of their folding and gluing equipment (e.g., operator turnover, below-par training, poor machine maintenance, insufficient documentation), increased efficiency can be a matter of implementing seven basic productivity steps:

• "Get organized;

• Manage tooling;

• Keep a log of recorded set-ups;

• Have the right parts;

• Maintain your machine;

• Ask questions; and

• Continuous training."

These steps, included with today's sophisticated folding and gluing technology, can put converters on a path to higher productivity rates and decreases in per-job expenditures.

New and liberating technology

There is a slew of advanced folding and gluing equipment on the market that is designed to unburden a converter and its operators from one or more aspects of the work required of their processes.

In addition, notes AIM Technical Manager Jeff Wilcox, with the signing of the Jobs and Growth Tax Relief Reconciliation Act of 2003 by President Bush last May, packaging converters of all sizes are finding it feasible to invest in new equipment. The result is a larger demand for new machines rather than used, Wilcox said.

To begin, Signature Folder/Gluers, manufactured by AIM, feature a unique design that simplifies the makeready process. The machine uses a solid-beam photo sensor to detect a carton, and can begin the back folding process from the rear edge of the carton versus the front edge of the carton.

"What this means to the operator is that he/she no longer needs to measure the cartons' dimensions each time he/she does a new makeready," Wilcox said. "There is less time spent per makeready, resulting in more throughput."

Signature technology includes dual-action carriers that easily and accurately reposition for repeat job setups using digital indicators, and lift to accommodate up to E-flute corrugated, leaving no impression marks. Carrier positioning, as well as trombone positioning, is pushbutton motorized. Signature belts run up to 500 mpm.

From back-folding technology to straight-line gluing, Presswerx, the exclusive distributor of Anter Folder Gluers—a Barcelona, Spain-based manufacturer—offers four models of Anter's straight-line folder/gluers: Anter 550, 900, 1100, and 1300.

The Anter 550 is specifically designed to run ultra-small formats. Originally developed to service the pharmaceutical packaging industry, the 550 can produce CD jackets at speeds up to 30,000 per hour.

The Anter 990, 1100, and 1300 are capable of producing a wide range of products up to 52˝ wide. All models of the Anter Folder Gluers have auto-bottom, 4 and 6 corner, and pocket folder options.

Roberts PolyPro, Inc. (Charlotte, N.C.) also produces a straight-line gluer, one specifically designed for companies working in the paperboard converting market. The SuperGluer® Folder Gluer offers quick line speeds, fast setup, operator safety, and ease of maintenance, using a unique vacuum carrier transport system that eliminates the bulky top belt carrier used on conventional gluers, said John Eklund, Roberts PolyPro marketing director.

The SuperGluer® has 80 percent fewer moving parts than traditional gluers, which means maintenance takes less time and money, Eklund said. The machine also comes equipped with the Zero Defect System, an intrinsic control logic that removes the operator from the process of starting and stopping the system. The Zero Defect System automatically clears off cartons during machine starts, and gradually decreases the shingle thickness, which along with the continued operation of the compression module, ensures that all of the cartons are properly compressed during programmed stops.

"Each module on a Roberts' machine is independent and connected by an electronic line shaft," Eklund explained. "As a result, Roberts' gluers are programmed to automatically clear off misfed cartons. In the event of a jam, downstream modules continue to carry cartons to the compression module. This eliminates the need for inspection for properly compressed cartons and reduces carton spoilage."

The SuperGluer® is designed to run at more than 2,300 fpm, and is ideal for folding cartons and corrugated boxes up to 48˝ wide and 30˝ long, and cartons as thick as B flute corrugated.

Brandtjen & Kluge, Inc. (St. Croix Falls, Wis.) offers a different kind of folder/gluer: the FlexFold. The FlexFold features segmented folder rollers, easy-to-use adjustment point handles, a multi-sheet detector, pivoting direct drive, dual vacuum wheels, synchronous belt drive systems, self-aligning drive bearings, and a soft-touch color screen control console.

With the ability to run at speeds up to 600 fpm, the FlexFold can process sheets up to 32 x 36˝, with thicknesses between 4 and 30 pt., coated or uncoated. Its main unit consists of a vacuum feeder, a buckle plate section, two 6´ inline units, a compression station, a cold glue system, and an electrical panel.

Most folder/gluers today are modular, which increases a machine's overall capabilities, said Hank Brandtjen, president of Brandtjen & Kluge. The FlexFold is no different. "The analogy I like to use is a train," Brandtjen said. "Between the engine (feeder) and the caboose (delivery), the customer has to tell the supplier what type of work is going to be run so the machine can be configured accordingly."

The FlexFold is capable of producing unique and oversized applications like lock-bottom boxes, partition packages, double vertical pockets, and point-of-purchase displays, among others.

Keeping it clean and accurate

Adhesive application is a sticky business, with the potential to be very messy and cause costly production problems. Fortunately, there are technologies that all but completely eliminate the downside of gluing.

Nordson Corp. (Duluth, Ga.) has the LA 404 Pattern Control System, a distance-based system that delivers easy installation and programming with application flexibility. The LA 404 features highly accurate gun control of up to four channels, and a choice of different bead types. Its quick-connect cables provide for fast, easy installation, while its 50-program memory allows for rapid pattern changeover.

Furthermore, the LA 404 offers jam and skewing detection, and has sensors to help prevent overlapping boxes or gluing on skewed boxes. "This eliminates the waste of adhesive with misaligned boxes, the clean up of adhesive being slung or shot with no substrate to receive it, and carton rejects from improperly applied adhesive," said Senior Program Manager Elizabeth Jordan.

The LA 404 suits a broad range of high-end packaging or folding carton, envelope, and bag and sack manufacturing requirements.

Folding cartons were once boxes used to protect consumer goods, but in recent years they have become packaging used to sell products. Along with that new role has come the emergence of clear, poly folding cartons, which makes adhesive application a difficult task.

But Matik North America (West Hartford, Conn.)—which carries a wide product line-up of folder/gluers and is the exclusive distributor of VESTA folder/gluers in the United States and Canada—has the answer to poly boxes: the VESTA Poly Folder-Gluer and Vesta's exclusive PURfect Glue System. The VESTA PURfect Glue System eliminates problems associated with folding and gluing poly materials like PVC, PET, PP, and APET. In the past, converters dealt with feeding, scratching, glue stringing, glue bubbles, and unsightly glue lines when working with poly substrates. The PURfect Glue System relieves converters from those troubles.

The system applies a thin, precise PUR glue lamination, and uses 50 percent less PUR glue, saving the converter money and eliminating unsightly glue blobs. The result is an even glue line with no stringing.

The VESTA PURfect Glue System works on all types of boxes, including straight line, auto-bottom, small box, tapered, and pocket folders.