The invention generally relates to corrugated boards and, more particularly, relates to apparatus and method for manufacturing corrugated boards.
Conventional corrugators produce single-faced, double-backed and multiple-wall corrugated boards by bonding papers together. Typically, an adhesive is applied to the surfaces of crests of the corrugated portion of the papers. In particular, a starch slurry is prepared as one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize using mainly powdered starch and water. Borax and caustic soda may also be added during the preparation of the starch slurry. The prepared starch slurry is often pumped into a reservoir or a pan and applied to flute tips (i.e., crests) of a web of fluting paper by an application roll. A turning doctor roll regulates the thickness of the starch slurry on the application roll to apply to the web of fluting paper, which is typically heated by a corrugating roll. A web of liner paper engages the web of fluting paper at the flute tips such that the starch slurry is absorbed into the web of liner paper as the fluting paper and the liner paper are firmly pressed together. The starch slurry is gelled by the application of heat from the corrugating roll and secures the flute tips onto the liner paper. In particular, during the cooking process, the granules of the powdered starch absorb water, burst, gelatinize and form a glue. The moisture in the glue then evaporates or is absorbed into the liner paper and the glue bonds the liner paper and the flute tips of the fluting paper together.
As one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize, the amount of the adhesive required to bond the liner paper with the flute tips of a fluting paper may vary based on the speed of the corrugating process. In particular, more adhesive is required in a corrugating process that operates at a lower speed. However, if the process is operating at a rate that is too slow, virtually all of the water from the starch slurry is absorbed after the slurry is applied to the flute tips and prior to the slurry becoming an adhesive. As a result, no bonds are formed between the liner paper and the flute tips of the fluting paper. Accordingly, more starch slurry is required in the process to simply serve as a carrier of water in order to ensure sufficient amount of water remains in the slurry to form the adhesive.
Further, the inventor has found that as the starch slurry is applied to a dry flute tip provided on a heated, fluted roller, the water of the slurry may be carried through the flute by capillary action at an undesirably fast pace and the starch may effectively dry on the flute. Typically, water from the starch slurry is absorbed into the fluting paper after the slurry is applied and before the slurry becomes an adhesive. Such a phenomenon has at least two negative implications. The first is that the percentage of unusable starch may be sufficient to degrade the effective adhesive quality of the slurry, thereby producing less than optimum product. The second is that manufacturers are required to compensate for this contingency by applying more starch to the flutes than would ordinarily be received to produce an effective bond, thereby reducing efficiency and increasing cost. It would therefore be advantageous to apply the starch slurry to the flute tips of the corrugated paper in a more efficient and effective manner. In particular, it would be advantageous to reduce the amount of starch slurry applied to the flute crests and accordingly reduce the cost of producing corrugated boards, while at the same time maintaining or improving bond quality.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a method for manufacturing corrugated boards is provided, which comprises the steps of supplying a first web of medium having a first and second sides with a plurality of flutes on each side and each flute having a crest, supplying a second web of medium, applying a wetting agent to the crests on the first side of the first web, applying an adhesive composition to the crests on the first side of the first web, and securing the second web to the crests on the first side of the first web to form a single-faced corrugated board.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, an apparatus for manufacturing corrugated boards is provided, which comprises a corrugating device, a wetting device, an adhesive supply device and a securing device. The corrugating device is adapted to form a plurality of flutes on a first and second sides of a first web of medium. Each of the plurality of flutes includes a crest. The wetting device is adapted to apply a wetting agent to a plurality of crests on the first side of the first web. The adhesive supply device is adapted to apply an adhesive composition to the plurality of crests on the first side of the first web. The securing device is adapted to secure a second web of medium to the plurality of crests on the first side of the first web to form a single-faced corrugated board.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, an apparatus for manufacturing corrugated boards is provided, which comprises first and second corrugated rolls rotationally engaged to each other, first and second wetting rolls disposed for rotation in a first reservoir, first and second adhesive rolls disposed for rotation in a second reservoir and a securing roll disposed to rotationally engage the first corrugated roll.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a corrugated article manufactured according to the steps comprising supplying a first web of medium having a first and second sides with a plurality of flutes on each side and each flute having a crest, supplying a second web of medium, applying a wetting agent to a plurality of crests on the first side of the first web, applying an adhesive composition to the plurality of crests on the first side of the first web, and securing the second web to the plurality of crests on the first side of the first web to form a single-faced corrugated board.
These and other aspects and features of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.
While the invention is susceptible to various modifications and alternative constructions, certain illustrative embodiments thereof have been shown in the drawings and will be described below in detail, it should be understood, however, that there is no intention to limit the invention to the specific forms disclosed, but on the contrary, the intention is to cover all modifications, alternative constructions and equivalents falling within the spirit and scope of the invention as defined by the appended claims.
Referring now to the drawings, and with specific reference to
Accordingly, the wetting device 114 does not engage a second side 138 of the first web of medium 130. In this part of the process, the wetting device 114 may be, but is not limited to, an anilox system (as shown in
As the first component 122 of the corrugating device 112 continues to retain the first web of medium 130, the adhesive supply device 116 applies an adhesive composition to the crests of the plurality of flutes 132 on the first web of medium 130. Similar to the wetting device 114, the adhesive supply device 116 also engages the crests of the plurality of flutes 132 on the first side 136 of the first web of medium 130. In particular, the adhesive supply device 116 may be, but is not limited to, an anilox system (as shown in
Further, the securing device 118 is disposed to secure a second web of medium 140 to the crests of the plurality of flutes 132 on the first side 136 of the first web of medium 130 to form a single-faced corrugated board 150. The securing device 118 may be, but is not limited to, a heat application device such as a pressure roll and a belt, or simply paper tension.
It is to be understood that the above materials and dimensions are provided for the purpose of disclosing the currently known best mode for practicing the teachings of the invention, and should not be construed as limiting in any manner.
As noted above, the wetting device 114 may be, but is not limited to, an anilox system, a sprayer (i.e., masked to spray at the crests only), a rod coater, and a belt system. For example, as shown in
In an alternate embodiment, the wetting device 114 may be an anilox system 300 as shown in
The wetting device 114 and the adhesive supply device 116 may also be used with a double-backer corrugator to form double-backed corrugated boards. Referring to
Referring now to
At a step 520, a wetting agent such as water with or without additives is applied to a plurality of crests on the first side of the first web. At a step 530, an adhesive composition such as a starch slurry is applied to the plurality of crests on the first side of the first web after the wetting agent is applied at step 520. The adhesive composition such as starch slurry is prepared as one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize. For example, the starch slurry may be heated to a temperature such that the powdered starch granules burst, gelatinize, and form a glue.
At a step 540, a second web of medium, which is also prepared as one of ordinary skill in the art will readily recognize, is secured to the plurality of crests on the first side of the first web using the adhesive composition. Accordingly, a single-faced corrugated board is formed by bonding the second web of medium and the plurality of crests on the first side of the first web of medium. A wetting agent may then be applied to the plurality of crests on the second side of the first web as indicated by a step 550.
At a step 560, an adhesive composition is applied to the crests on the second side of the first web after the wetting agent is applied at step a 550. At a step 570, a third web of medium is secured to the crests on the second side of the first web using the adhesive composition. Accordingly, the third web of medium and the single-faced corrugated board are bonded to form a double-backed corrugated board.
Further, the sequence of steps as described above may be repeated to manufacture additional layers to the double-backed corrugated board. For example, a single-faced corrugated board is manufactured from step 510 through step 530 so that the single-faced corrugated board may be secured to either the second or the third web of medium to form a multiple-wall corrugated board.
From the foregoing, one of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the invention provides a method for manufacturing corrugated board and an apparatus for accomplishing same.
The present application is a divisional patent application of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/961,126 filed on Sep. 21, 2001, the specification of which is expressly incorporated by reference herein.
Number | Name | Date | Kind |
---|---|---|---|
1199508 | Swift, Jr. | Sep 1916 | A |
1796542 | Schoo | Mar 1931 | A |
2674299 | Bruker | Apr 1954 | A |
2751964 | Guyer | Jun 1956 | A |
3077222 | Shanley | Feb 1963 | A |
3189502 | Little | Jun 1965 | A |
3383234 | Nikkel | May 1968 | A |
3434901 | Griffiths et al. | Mar 1969 | A |
3536561 | Griffiths | Oct 1970 | A |
3690981 | Frank et al. | Sep 1972 | A |
3864185 | Johnson et al. | Feb 1975 | A |
3922129 | McDonald | Nov 1975 | A |
4140564 | Schrader | Feb 1979 | A |
4278486 | Schrader | Jul 1981 | A |
4419173 | Akiyama et al. | Dec 1983 | A |
4655870 | Mori et al. | Apr 1987 | A |
4765855 | Geoffroy-Dechaume et al. | Aug 1988 | A |
4806183 | Williams | Feb 1989 | A |
4871406 | Griffith | Oct 1989 | A |
5275657 | Duffy et al. | Jan 1994 | A |
5292391 | Wallick | Mar 1994 | A |
5332458 | Wallick | Jul 1994 | A |
5348610 | McKinlay et al. | Sep 1994 | A |
5609711 | Miller | Mar 1997 | A |
5676790 | Burrows | Oct 1997 | A |
5846376 | Gossett et al. | Dec 1998 | A |
6089296 | Hess et al. | Jul 2000 | A |
6126771 | Mosburger et al. | Oct 2000 | A |
6153037 | Kim et al. | Nov 2000 | A |
6171427 | Hess et al. | Jan 2001 | B1 |
6827784 | Kern | Dec 2004 | B1 |
20020071937 | Smith et al. | Jun 2002 | A1 |
20050170148 | Mattila et al. | Aug 2005 | A1 |
Number | Date | Country |
---|---|---|
901 255 | Jan 1954 | DE |
0 936 059 | Aug 1999 | EP |
0 951 998 | Oct 1999 | EP |
05177748 | Jul 1993 | JP |
WO 9715440 | May 1997 | WO |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
20070084543 A1 | Apr 2007 | US |
Number | Date | Country | |
---|---|---|---|
Parent | 09961126 | Sep 2001 | US |
Child | 11558741 | US |