Rose Anne M.

Delos Santos BSIE I-2

2011-02275-MN-0 Prof. Adel Sulit

Corrugated board
Corrugated board is made up of one or more layers of corrugated paper. These corrugated layers are glued together with layers of straight paper. Corrugated board brings up the pros of solid boards and at the same time eliminates the cons. Physical characteristics of individual types of corrugated boards are defined based on requirements for the material. Corrugated board is fairly impact resistant because the impact tends to infract the corrugated parts and therefore minimizes the chances of destroying the packaged goods. The air circulating in the flutes also serves as an insulator which provides excellent protection against temperature variations. The main attributes observed on boards are mainly so called bursting, disruptive breakdown and edge breaking point (the bigger the edge breaking point - the more you can stack the board - meaning you can stack higher volumes of boxes on each other). Board is one of the most widely used materials in the packaging industry - around 75 % of all packages is made out of board. If the board isnt treated than the disadvantage is definitely its low resistance to water and weight absorbing capabilities.

History of corrugated board

Corrugated board is over 150 years old. The first information about paper or other material corrugating may be found in a British patent by Edwarda G. Healyho and Edwarda E. Allena (1856). The manufacturing of corrugated board was patented in 1871 in US by Albert Jones. Rumor has it that the first corrugating machine was made from old cannon barrels from the Civil War. The inspiration was gained from pleated women skirts. His goal was to find an elegant and safe way to package glass bottles. Oliver Long improved his patent three years later by adding a solid board to the corrugated one getting a two-ply board. In 1883 in London the first European corrugated board factory began operating. The 20th century brought the development of new machinery and techniques for making corrugated board.

Invention of corrugated

Albert L. Jones is the father of corrugated board. Born in America, Jones is said to have discovered the idea while manufacturing neck ruffs and frills on a pleating machine. Instead of using fabric he put paper through the milling cylinders to produce an elastic packaging material. In December 1871 he was granted a patent. In 1874 Oliver Long achieved a considerable improvement by gluing a fluted sheet of corrugating medium onto a linerboard, thus creating single face corrugated board. During the following years American manufacturers concentrated mainly on the development of new machinery. In 1882 Robert H. Thompson (USA) received the patent for double face (single wall) corrugated board. His company, the Thompson and Norris Society, also developed the first mechanically driven single facer with which the first three European corrugated board plants were equipped. y Expansion in Europe

The first attempts to make corrugated board in Europe were started in 1883, in London. This was followed three years later, in 1886, by the first corrugated board factory on the continent at Kirchberg in Germany. The third European corrugated board production plant was opened in Exideuil-sur-Vienne (France) in 1888. Independent producers of equipment entered the corrugated board business in 1895. This resulted in the first continuous corrugator developed by Jefferson T. Ferres of the Sefton Manufacturing Company.

Double wall corrugated board

A further important step was the production of the double wall or fivefold corrugated board, which was first produced by the Sefton Manufacturing Company in Kokoma (Indiana) in 1916. It was only in 1929 that two different corrugations were used (one fine and one coarse flute size). y Corrugated board in the 20th and 21st century

The production of corrugated packaging has developed extremely rapidly since the 19th century. Parallel to the Industrial Revolution, the manufacturers of corrugated packaging were able to satisfy a rising need for transport packaging. Close correlations can be seen between corrugated board production and the economic activity of a country. In the 20th century, machine equipment was improved immensely. By means of computerized working processes (CAD/CAM) production could be accelerated enormously. Corrugated board has been produced for over 100 years and the rapid development of the world economy (globalization) will certainly also demand innovative and creative solutions from corrugated board producers in the future. New technologies such as RFID (Radio Frequency Identification) are the challenge of the 21st century.

Types of corrugated boards

Corrugated boards are made by a certain number of solid and corrugated boards. Corrugated board can be made from at least two and at maximum of seven layers. Board can be divided based on two criteria

y y

based on height of the rib/profile based on source material Technical names of corrugated boards based on structures are as follows:

Two-ply corrugated board with an A type rib (one-ribbed) - can be delivered in rolls or sheets - board height: 4,4 mm and rib pitch: 8,6 mm

Three-ply corrugated board with a C type rib board height: 3,5 mm and rib pitch: 7,3 mm

Three-ply corrugated board with a B type rib board height: 2,7 and rib pitch: 6,1 mm

Three-ply corrugated board with an E type rib (micro-rib) board height: 1,4 and rib pitch: 3,7 mm Further more there are mini-ribs symbolized by letter F, these have a height of 0,8 mm. These ribs arent the smallest option. There are also microprofiles G and O that are only 0,3 mm high.

Five-ply corrugated board mostly with two different rib profiles (BC, BE)

Seven-ply corrugated board combination of two or three rib profile types.

Corrugated board consists of one or two outer plies, the flutes and, in multi-ply types of corrugated board, of one or more intermediate plies. Corrugated board is classified as follows according to the number of outer/intermediate plies and flutes:

Figure 1: Single face corrugated board consists of one ply of fluted paper, onto which paper or cardboard is glued.

Figure 2: Single wall (double face) corrugated board consists of one ply of fluted paper which is glued between two plies of paper or cardboard.

Figure 3: Double wall corrugated board consists of two plies of fluted paper which are glued together by one ply of unfluted paper or cardboard and the exposed outer surfaces of which are each covered with one ply of paper or cardboard.

Figure 4: Tri-wall corrugated board consists of three plies of fluted paper which are glued together by two plies of paper or cardboard and the outer surfaces of which are likewise each covered with one ply of paper or cardboard. As is clear from the structure of the various types of corrugated board, they differ most with regard to strength, which increases with the number of plies and/or the quality of the paper used. The strength of corrugated board is determined by the following three characteristics: Bursting strength [kPa] Puncture resistance [J] Edgewise crush resistance [kN/m] Cartons are usually made from double wall and single wall corrugated board. Cartons made from high strength corrugated board, generally tri-wall (or ultra-heavy) corrugated board, are used for transport operations involving severe climatic conditions and mechanical stresses and for those involving heavier cargoes. Moreover, corrugated board made with moisture-resistant glue and wet strength paper is used in particular for maritime transport.

When making cartons, it is vital for the flutes in the end and side walls to be arranged upright so that they can withstand the greatest possible pressure when stacked. In contrast, if the flutes are horizontal, they have very poor rigidity and can be crushed very easily (see Figure 6). Figure 6: When arranged in this way, the flutes would collapse when exposed to pressure from above. Carton strength is then compromised and entire stacks may collapse.

Basic materials for production on corrugated board

To create corrugated board a variety of papers of different characteristics, qualities and weights can be used. It depends on what is the end-use of the corrugated board. In order to create corrugated board, the solid board has to be layered with the corrugated paper. Typically in packaging industry the papers are divided based on quality: Corrugated papers Fluting unbleached half-cellulosic paper made of leaf wood with minimum of 65 % primary fibers Wellenstoff predominantly made of recycled old paper edk (Grayer) paper made of a mix of collected papers such as print disposal, grey board, board tubes etc. Covering papers Kraftliner sulfate, cellulosic paper made in natural brown or with a bleached treatment (white top) made of coniferous wood with minimum of 80 % primary fibers.

Testliner mostly two-ply papers made of different types of papers. The covering paper may be out of quality fibrous materials. The fiber mix isnt standardly set - therefore strength is given and guaranteed. edk (Grayer) paper made of a mix of collected papers Surface density is given in g/m2. For covering paper 100-300g/m2 densities are used. For ribs 80 to 180 g/m2 surface density is used. For production of corrugated board modified starch is used as glue. Also other types of glues such as dispersive adhesive are used - it depends on required qualities of the board (e.g. bigger resistance to water).

Production of corrugated board

The production process of corrugated board can be divided into several phases: y creating ribs and rib gluing y marouflage y drying Creating ribs The basic machinery for production of corrugated board is the corrugator to which two belts of paper are fed. Paper intended for corrugating goes through a set of fluted valves (upper and lower fluted valve). These valves are heated to 180C. Immediately after the corrugation process starch glue is applied to the ribs. Afterwards the corrugated paper is gently pressed with another layer of solid paper. This way one gets a two-ply corrugated board suitable for further conversion.

Marouflage, gluing and drying Marouflage is a technique in which an upper treatment from a different material than the base material is applied. When the ribs are firmly connected to the solid base the lower part is marouflaged and glued to the other side of the board. This way single-ply or multi-ply boards are made. The drying process causes the starch to become a gel - this glues firmly together all layers.

Printing on corrugated board Corrugated board is used for package production and therefore the surface has to be printable. Based on the place where it is printed we recognize so called preprint and postprint. In the case of preprint, the upper surface is being printed before it is glued to a layer of corrugated board. That means that a roll of paper for corrugated board is already printed. Or the paper is printed and than marouflaged to the corrugated cardboard. Both approaches have high quality printing, because virtually all printing techniques may be used: mostly off-set, gravure printing or flexoprint. Postprint takes place after separate layers are already glued together. Due to the attributes of corrugated board, off-set printing cannot be used. Mostly flexoprint or screen printing is used.